A Steele Love
by Steele.Hearts33
Summary: One nosy lawyer, a lousy phone call & a catostrophic brunch have changed Ana's life forever. Can she find a new identity separate from Christian and still help him chase away his demons? The only way they can make it is to make their Love strong as steel. This is the sequel to A Steele Heart
1. Prologue

A Steele Love

 **Prologue**

Ana's POV

Sunday, May 7th, Grey Brunch

Taylor and Sawyer have both exited the car. I know Christian isn't happy to hear that his dad called the pentagon asking about me. Hell, neither am I. I must have faith that no one would rat me out. There aren't many with the security clearance to access my files anyway. I am sure we'll be fine. I'll have to call Finn and Frank otherwise.

"Christian look at me." I try and talk to him calmly, in a way that I know will ease some of his tension. When he looks at me, I place my hands on the sides of his neck, stroking his jaw with my thumbs. "Everything will be alright. Taylor and Sawyer are here and will be on the ready. I've sent Finn a standby message. Your dad might be a big deal in Washington state, but I'm a bigger deal in DC. He shouldn't have been able to find anything out. It will be alright." I place a gentle kiss to his lips and release him.

"Okay Snow White, but at the first sign of trouble, we're out of here." He knocks on the door signally we're ready to exit the car.

Walking to the front door hand in hand, Mia greets us. She's chattering away so fast that only Christian can seem to keep up. I feel him tense next to me and when we enter the sitting room I can see why. What was supposed to be a family brunch has turned into a business affair. There are three men and their wives here, along with Christian's grandparents, and two of Mia's friends, Lily included.

"Dad, I thought this was a family brunch." Christian is already on the defense, and I am not sure why. I don't think Carrick is classless enough to bring up personal matters in front of guests like this.

"Well it was supposed to be, but we won an important case this week while you and your girlfriend were galivanting around the globe. Your brother won't be here either, but your grandparents wanted to come and see Anastasia again." Okay, he's not even going to hide his sudden dislike for me. The way he said girlfriend and alluded to us traipsing around like teenagers leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. This is going south fast.

"Ana and I spent a lovely three days in the Maldives. I liked is so much I'm thinking of buying one of the islands that are for sale." Christian is ready for his father to say what he needs to say.

"Speaking of Ana, why don't you and I have a private chat. She can sit here and talk with the women while the men move to my study." Oh, no. He wants to tell him something without me being able to interject.

"Just spit it out dad. We know about the phone calls you made this week. Just tell us what you think you know." Please not in front of everyone, my cover could be blown and my career will be ruined.

"Carrick, maybe Christian and I can join you in the study and we discuss whatever it is you need me to clear up."

"I don't need you to clear anything up. I just need you to get out of my house and my son's company." What?!

"What the fuck Dad?" Christian is bristling now.

"She told you she worked for the government, it was a lie. I have the files to prove it. She's what is called a black hatter. She hacks into companies, pretends to go in and fix them, and then robs them blind. I have the reports from three companies she's worked for. Her so called government work is more like community service. She hacked a boy that filed an assault charge on her as a teenager, stole is trust fund and then planted evidence to send him to prison. Just yesterday my company was hired pro bono by him to file an appeal and get him and his family set free and get their money back." What? How can he know all this? What the hell happened? I press the panic button on my phone, Finn needs to get here now.

I listen to Carrick tell Christian all about what a dirty lying thief I am, I count the witnesses, fifteen not including Carrick, Christian and myself. There is no telling who else he has told.

Christian's fists are clenching, his father is walking toward him and then suddenly turns toward me. "And I know you set up Elena. She might have taken advantage of my son, but she's not a sex trafficker." What the hell is he talking about? Grace must see the confused look on my face, because she finally decides to speak.

"The FBI put out an alert looking for Elena. She seems to have disappeared and is wanted for a host of charges for crimes against children and human sex trafficking. We thought we knew her. I understand what we had been told before," she pauses to look at Christian, careful not to reveal the nature of what he told them, "but it is very hard to think that she was that kind of person and we never knew." Grace doesn't sound as convinced as her husband, but I can see that she wants it to not be true. I'll have to contact the FBI tomorrow and find out what is going on.

I see Carrick pick up a glass from the side table he's standing next to and down the amber liquid before he moves toward me a couple more steps. I use my phone to send an alert to Sawyer, he'll know the 3n7r, means to enter immediately. I need them to keep Christian off his father.

"You weaseled your way into my son's company with your duplicitous computer skills and your skirt. You've gotten him to buy you clothes and jewels, take you on two expensive trips already, and now you've secured the job of Chief Security Advisor. Next, you'll tell us you're pregnant with not one, but two of his babies. I'd advise a DNA a test immediately. I already have one illegitimate grandchild, I don't need another." I thought Christian would punch Carrick at that moment, but it was Grace's slap that reverberated throughout the room. At that, Mrs. Trevelyan suggested that Mia and her friends and the partners and their wives all leave. Before they could get to the door though, Carrick cemented my fate.

"You all make sure you tell everyone my son was taken to the cleaners by the Blacksmith and his father tried to warn him about it." My world as I knew it toppled in that moment. Carrick had no idea what he had just done and then Christian hit his father, dragged away by Taylor before he could do it again. We had to get Sawyer to stall the others from leaving before Finn got there.

My team arrived with six other agents, each one having a stern talk with a guest or member of Grace's staff before allowing them to leave. Didn't matter though, the damage was done. I couldn't work as the Blacksmith anymore, someone had sold me out.

 **A/N: I know that many of you have a few burning questions leftover from A Steele Heart. They will start getting answered when chapter 1 is published and be answered throughout the story. Just stick with me.**

 **Thank you to everyone that was ready A Steele Heart before this. It was my first story and the response has been overwhelming. Almost everyone has been positive and I can't thank you enough for your kind words. It's what has inspired me to keep writing.**

 **Most of you know that I have a couple other stories going right now.** ** _A Submissive Beginning_** **and my new story** ** _Grey Vitals_** **will be updated weekly along with** ** _A Steele Love_** **. However, there will be no posted updates next week due to the holiday. This will be the first year my kids are able to celebrate the 4** **th** **of July with family and not on a military base, so we will be surrounded by family watching our ten and seven-year old children so more than black cats and sparklers for the first time.**

 **I know that this isn't my usual chapter length, I had originally intended for this scene to be a flashback, but it didn't flow the way I wanted it to. So here it is a prologue instead. I'm reworking Chapter 1 and then sending it off to my beta. Whenever she finds the time to get it done this week, I will go ahead and post it, but there are no guarantees of when that will be. She is pretty amazing though and I have to give a shout out to Gate Park for the way she has worked this past week. I appreciate it. She however did not beta this chapter. I wanted to get it up so there would be no delay on the question of what happened at brunch. Ana's struggle for a new identity for herself will be a main focus in this part of the story. A Steele Love will likely be 25 chapters like its predecessor, and I have two stories planned for after as well before I'm done with this Christian and Ana's story. And before you ask, I can't tell you the titles for stories three and four, that would way to telling for the major plot points of each. The Steele Quartet won't likely end for good until the new year.**

 **Once again, I thank you all for the encouragement. I wouldn't be writing without it. I hope to update each story once a week, whether it's a different day of the week for each story, or if you get all three stories in one day, I'm not sure yet. What do you want?**

 **As always, I don't own FSOG, but I certainly love turning EL's Ana into one badass chick.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Laters.**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: just a few notes about this chapter. I know some of you may have some questions still left at the end of the chapter. I can't answer them all in one chapter. This chapter had already hit the 5000 word mark before the author's note. Even more questions will be answered in the next chapter, and some more in chapter three. However, in true Steele fashion, there will be new questions posed as the story travels along.**

 **A huge shut out to the Amazing Gate Park, the best beta in the FanFiction world, and she's all mine.**

 **Please don't hesitate to review or send me a message with your questions. Some of them can simply be answered by looking at my bio, which was updated over the weekend. It also includes the posting schedule for my stories.**

 **I am now on facebook with an author page. You can find the link in my bio, don't hesitate to send me a friend request. I'll post the chapter links directly to my facebook page, as well as in the two groups I usually post too. If you aren't getting the updates, you should follow the story(s) and follow me. Fanfiction willsend you a notice when a new chapter/story is posted.**

 **As always, I don't own FSoG. Thank you all for encouraging me to change the story up a bit though.**

 **Laters,**

 **A Steele Love**

 **Chapter 1**

Friday, June 16,

Ana's POV

Sunday will be six weeks. Six weeks since our return from the Maldives, six weeks since that disastrous brunch, and six weeks since my life changed irreversibly. I boarded that plane in Sri Lanka happy and in love like nothing could ever bring me down. Turned out that loving the man I want to spend my life with cost me almost everything I've ever worked for. I thought we had enough to deal with, and then I heard that Carrick had called the Pentagon. I thought, no biggie, just gotta make sure he doesn't do it again. It never even crossed my mind that anyone at the Department of Defense, would give him any kind of honest answers. I never thought that the very government that I had worked and risked my life for would sell me out. But it seems all it took was a promise of a campaign contribution to the right senator and a little pressure to the right committee chairman and I have officially been burned; on paper at least. My cover is fully blown. I am Anastasia Steele, formally known as the Blacksmith to the CIA.

My handlers Finn and Frank thought they contained the mess Carrick created at the brunch, when he chose to vocalize his false deductions in a room full of close to a dozen people. Everyone had been warned what would happen if they talked. Carrick's partners and their wives weren't really a concern. They heard "national security" and pledged to keep quiet by signing an affidavit. Grace's staff was questioned, and only little miss blonde braids, Gretchen, heard anything. She was told her work visa would be pulled and she would automatically be deported back to Bulgaria if she said anything. It was Mia's friends that were the main concern. One of the girls, Makayla, was polite and swore to keep her mouth shut. Her dad works for the Seattle Police Department; therefore, she understood how much trouble she could be in. Lily on the other hand gave us all fits that day.

She swore that my treacherous behavior needed to be brought to light for everyone to see. That I was going to bring Christian down before it was all said and done. She waited 17 days before she pulled the rug out from under me. I was the leading headline at the Seattle Nooz on May 24th. Billionaire's Secret Spy Girlfriend was soon picked up by leading news outlets, including the Huffington Post, CNN, Fox News, and the New York Times. Lily had recorded part of Carrick's outburst and immediately emailed it to herself saving it to the cloud before removing it from her phone. CeCe never saw it when questioning her.

Christian and I flew to Washington DC the next day for a press conference at the White House. While the world didn't know I was the Blacksmith, my cover was completely blown. At the press conference, the President applauded me for the work I did for our government. Because my team had simply identified themselves as government agents at the Grey's house, it was never confirmed which agency I was working for; Finn was smart enough to bring two FBI agents from the Seattle field office to most of the talking. It was easy to imply that I was a consultant rather than a full agent of the CIA. Now I'm sitting here in my office at GEH 23 days later. The President is urging me to do a Miss Congeniality tour. I've been approached by every major publishing house in the country wanting to help me write my life's story. The two local publishing houses in Seattle approached me as well. GEH's Public Relations team urged me to take a deal with one of them.

Since our return from the Maldives, my life has change drastically and not just because of Carrick's actions. I am now the permanent Chief of Security for GEH, and Griffin is my number two. I hired Barney's guy, Jonathon Wagner, to work in a small office here on the security floor for me. He runs my programs and maintains updates and debugs the programs for me. Next year, GEH will buyout Blade Programming and Jonathon will run the division as they expand to sell the software to other companies.

Christian asked me to move in with him the night of the Brunch. He couldn't stomach the idea of me going home alone any more than I could. I said yes, as long as he let me upgrade the security at Escala. When the news hit about my undercover work, I was happy to be at in his penthouse; it's our fortress in the sky. When doing the upgrades, I found a space unaccounted for just off the security office. Apparently, the apartment was supposed to be outfitted with a panic room, but it was never completed. I've taken care of that now. All of my equipment, weapons, and bug out gear are in there. While I may no longer be undercover, I am still on retainer to the CIA, and we don't know when someone might come back for me because of my past assignments.

Christian's birthday is in two days. I am planning his party with Grace and Mia and meeting them for lunch today at the Mile High at 12:30. Looking at my watch I notice that it is nearing 10. I hear a knock on the door and see Frank entering.

"Hey little Lady, you about ready?" Frank looks a little smug calling me "little". He's probably the only person, other than my father, that can get away with that and not land on his ass.

"Cut the "little" shit. Let me grab my bag and I'll join you at the elevator. I want this done before I meet with Grace and Mia. Sawyer will be joining us and has been promised the privilege of throwing the first punch if Carrick doesn't behave." I grab my red leather Lodis Audrey Lillian bag and head out the office with Frank.

"Hannah, if Mr. Grey calls, I'm out running errands before my lunch with his mother. Anyone else can leave a message. I should be back around two." My new assistant, Hannah, was hired personally by me. Like me, she doesn't fit the Stepford mold of the rest of the GEH ladies. She's 22, and this is her first job since she graduated. She's an Amazonian tall African American woman. Reserved, but when asked her opinion gives it with conviction. Her almost pixie like haircut leads people to believe she's a sweetheart, but I've come to learn that she can be a bitch when she wants to be. It's one of the things I like most about her, that and she had a conceal carry permit before she applied. Her father is a Master Sergeant with the Army stationed in Georgia. We seem to be kindred spirits.

"Sure thing Miss Steele." She'll only call me Ana outside the office.

I reach the elevator and find both Frank and Sawyer waiting for me. "Ana, do we really need to do this? I don't want Taylor or Mr. Grey getting irate with me." Of course, Sawyer is worried about his own ass.

"You leave them to me Sawyer. This meeting has been on my schedule for a week, a schedule Christian and Taylor have access to. I'm setting this man straight once and for all. He's going to grovel and then make peace with all of us and I want it done before the party on Sunday." With that Sawyer simply nods his head as we exit the elevator in the garage.

Christian's POV

If you had asked me six months ago if I thought I could be happy and in love, I would have told you to go have your head examined because you were certifiably crazy. But here I am today, almost two months after meeting Ana, awaiting the designer that will either have a ring for her or will help me design one. My only request when Taylor set this appointment up was that the jeweler only brings rings featuring light blue stone, they didn't have to necessarily be diamonds. I want a ring to match her eyes. It can't be too big either. Although she may no longer be able to do undercover work, she won't want something that is too flashy, or something she couldn't have purchased on her own. I love that woman, and I want nothing more than to shower her with gifts. Since moving in together, I've learned to meet her half way when it comes to the gifts. Ana may not be a billionaire, but she's a millionaire with her own black Amex, and she won't spend my money. She's worked her ass off and while she lets me pay the bills at Escala, and has agreed to let me take care of any future homes, I'm not allowed to

Reflecting, there have been so many changes in my life in the last two months, some good and some bad. Listed with the good changes, I have Ana. She'd agreed to move in with me, telling me she was dreading going back to her apartment, taking only a week to arrange to have her stuff packed and moved over. I only had to allow her access to adjust the security to the penthouse a little, well maybe a lot actually. Ana is now exclusively a part of my permanent GEH staff, not a temporary consultant. She hired a guy to run her company, Blade Programming, for her and next year she will let GEH buy her out. Thanks to my dad, Ana can no longer work undercover. That was a win for Ray and me. One less thing to give me nightmares and potential panic attacks. Now we just worry about all of her past mission targets figuring out she was the Blacksmith and coming back to bite her in the ass. I'm closer than ever to my family, with the exception of my father. Neither Elliot (n)or I have talked to him in six weeks.

The list of the bad things we're dealing with; we are still no closer to finding out who set fire to my server. Griffin has made it his personal mission to find out. The Nooz is publishing nasty articles regarding Ana weekly now. Thankfully the other news outlets have decided to go with DC and now hail her as the American hero that she is. Elena is still in the wind, and that is pissing Ana off more than anyone. I just couldn't believe everything the FBI told us.

When Barnett got into her Bravern salon safe, he found copies of all of my contracts with my submissives, files on each member of my family, a file on Ana, and a copy of a medical report from when I was at Harvard. There were also pictures. Pictures of each submissive with a masked man, that we now know was Welch. We also found her little black book. Elena had been in business with Sabbah for about five years and was helping him to train young men and women to be submissives. They were then shipping them out of Seattle via cargo containers on a ship, and selling them on the black market like stolen artifacts. She kept detailed records, including a picture of everyone she arranged to hand over to Sabbah. One was even a former submissive to Elena that I had met on occasion. Isaac was 19 the last time I saw him over a year ago.

I look at my calendar to see what my afternoon looks like. Ros will be joining me at 1 o'clock to discuss the publishing house that will likely be editing Ana's book for publication. I still can't believe the President talked her into this. I know I am a powerful man in the business world, but Ana has some major pull in DC. They still haven't figured out exactly how Carrick got all of his information, and when they do, look out. Ana will be out for blood and ready to ruin the person that took away her undercover work from her.

"Mr. Grey, Mr. Calderon is here for your appointment." The crackle of the speaker cuts into my thoughts.

"Send him in Andrea, and be sure and send out for my lunch today, Ana won't be joining me since she is having lunch with my mother." It's a table for one today.

Elliot's POV

It's been over six weeks since I last spoke to Dad. I know he was trying to look out for me, but he could have gone about it a better way. Lena didn't protest once when I asked to do a DNA test. When the results came back she was adamant that Elena not know I was Brooklynne's father. I think she knew exactly what Elena was doing and feared for Brooklynne. However, Elena is in the wind, and I want my daughter with me. I've tried to play nice with Leila; I even took her on a couple dates. I had to play like I had too much alcohol though because even the thought of sleeping with her left me with the limpest dick ever. She refused to let me see Brooklynne for a week when she found out I went on a date with another woman.

Now she's telling me that unless I take her with me, I can't bring Brooklynne to meet my family in person at Christian's birthday party. I want the world to know she's my daughter, and I want her to know her family. She has an uncle and two aunts looking forward to finally meeting her in person. Mom calls me every day to ask how Brooklynne is. It's dad that is the hold up. I don't want to take Leila around anyone though. There is something about the situation that seems off. She's constantly asking about Christian and Ana, and she absolutely hates when I refer to Ana as Aunt Ana when I'm telling Brooklynne stories about the family or facetiming with them.

I need to make peace with Dad though, I need his help. I need to gain custody of my daughter and I think he's the only one that can guide me with the intricacies of family court. I just need him to accept the fact that she is, in fact, a Grey. I'm going to head over to Grey House and see if Christian is free for lunch. Maybe he can help me figure out this Leila thing and how best to make peace with Dad. I really don't want to hire another attorney to take care of this. I'm just afraid that Christian is going to tell me I need to come clean about my own Elena encounters with Mom and Dad and I really don't want to do that.

Carrick's POV

I've got to find a way to make peace with my family. Christian's birthday is in two days and I don't want there to be any animosity between us at his party. Of course, if we can't figure this out before then, I'll stay home so that he can celebrate with those he loves. I've watched him and Ana together in the news since the Brunch. To say that I am appalled with my own behavior is an understatement. I have to explain to her again, I thought I was protecting my son. I should have heard Ana out in private, but I was so convinced at the time, that she was a liar and a con artist who would use her words to manipulate him even more. I was so wrong though, it's why I asked to have this meeting with Ana. She agreed but only if she could bring a member of her team with her. I had no standing to deny her anything she wanted.

"Mr. Grey, your 10:30 is here."

"Thank you, Angela." I wait for my secretary to show them in, not at all surprised to see Sawyer with them. I recognize the Latino man with Ana as one of the guys who had been at the house the day of the Brunch.

"Mr. Grey, I hope you remember Sawyer, my CPO, and Frank Gonzalez, he's a member of my old team with the CIA." I blanch a little at her greeting to me and the way she says "old team." Then I recognize she said the CIA. What?

"Mr. Grey, I need you to look over some papers and sign them before we can talk any further." Agent Gonzalez hands me a two-page document, it looks like a standard Non-Disclosure Agreement, until I reach the second page. I see a passage stating exactly what will happen if I reveal anything I am told today, to anyone. Prison, yep. Financial restitution, yep. Social ruin, also a check. This woman is the real deal and I totally screwed it all up.

"I really messed up didn't I Ana?" She looks at me almost sympathetically when she answers with a simple, "Yes."

I signed the paper and handed it back to Agent Gonzalez. "Was my information really that wrong?" Frank takes the papers and stands in the corner of the room to leave Ana and me to talk.

"You had almost all of it wrong. I did hack Brad Matthews my first year in college. I was mostly trying to see if I could do it. I'm not sure what all he told you about his family and me, but let me tell you the truth." She proceeds to tell me about the torment she suffered at the hands of that man before he and his buddies kidnapped her in high school. I know that Brad said that she paid a friend to tell the police what they did, but I'm now realizing he was lying. She tells me about all the photos she found on his computer of the things he and his friends did with other girls as well. "They held me prisoner in his basement for two days. My mother never noticed I was missing, and when I attacked him the next week, I was called a liar for my claims and given three weeks in a juvenile home. When I started the hacking, I was hoping to find something to send the IRS or maybe evidence that Mr. Matthews was having an affair. Something I could use to show the great state of Texas, that the Matthews' weren't the greatest family around. Instead I'm the one that discovered Brad's years as a sexual predator, Mr. Matthews was running a real estate scam, and his father was running a Ponzi scheme. Mrs. Matthews was embezzling from three charities. I thought about stealing Brad's trust fund, but I turned everything over to the government instead. It is the only time I have ever hacked when it wasn't sanctioned by the CIA."

"So, you're a consultant for the agency?" I can't imagine this slip of a girl being an actual agent.

"No, I'm a full fledge agent, I was undercover until Lily sold her story to the Nooz last month. My company is my cover, or well was." I really did screw up her life.

"I'm so sorry Ana. I ruined this for you didn't I?" She smiles shyly at me before answering.

"Carrick, I would have left the agency sooner or later. Right now, I can still work with them; I just can't do it undercover anymore. I was lucky that Lily's video didn't get your use of my code name. I would be in some serious danger if she had. I love your son. I didn't set out to take Welch's job. It was kinda dropped in my lap when I discovered that Welch was the one that allowed the GEH system to be hacked by altering background checks. I had only intended to be in the job temporarily while Taylor and Christian found someone else to do it, but now I am staying permanently. Next year I'm allowing GEH to buy out my company and my contracts. I can still work with the agency. But now I can have a life and hopefully a family when I am ready." She wants a family, with my son I hope.

"Tell me that you want Christian to have that family with you. That I didn't screw that up." I let hope seep through my voice.

"I want everything with your son. When he's ready to ask me, he knows what my answer will be. We're already living together, and I don't think we could be happier. He's given me everything I never thought I would have. I want to do the same for him and that means he needs his relationship with his father back. You need to make peace with him and grovel, to everyone, especially Elliot. You have a granddaughter, and she's gorgeous , smart, and so sweet. Elliot has let us facetime with them, but until he figures out what to do about you and the custody situation he has with Brooklynne's aunt, he won't introduce anyone in person to her. He wants her at Christian's birthday party, but Leila wants to be there and I'm afraid that Elliot is trying to distance himself from her. Which is really for the best. He needs his father to help him with this."

"I'll do whatever I can Ana."

"Tell me exactly how you got your information." She looks sternly at me and I see the agent behind her stand a little straighter and then walk back across the room and sit in the chair next to her.

"I called Senator Blandino's office and promised a campaign contribution if he could find anything out for me. He had a guy at the FBI office in DC that pulled the filed for me. I laughed when the Senator told me his name. The things the Senator was saying about him made me think his name fit him well. Of course, the Senator is originally from Georgia, so his southern accent makes Moran sound like Moron." A look comes across her face and then I see Sawyer's fist clench while Mr. Gonzalez swears under his breath.

"Thank you, Carrick. I knew someone in New York must have ratted me out. If that man thinks I've screwed with him, he's seen nothing yet. Agent Moran is an abusive asshole and I won't apologize for helping his wife out in her divorce. I was "kind" and left his career and pension intact, but now I'm going to take care of those." A mad Ana is a scary Ana. She stands, nodding to the two men over her shoulder, then turns back to me. "I happen to know Christian is free for lunch today and eating in his office alone. Maybe you should pay him a visit. I'll tell Andrea to let you in." With that she pushed her purse on her shoulder and saunters out of my office. I only hope my son doesn't have me kicked out when I arrive.

Taylor's POV

Barney is meeting with me in about five minutes to work on a strategy to take care of these Nooz idiots once and for all. Barney has managed to get a lot of their articles removed from their site before they have a chance to pick up any momentum, but this latest piece of trash pisses me off. There is some secretary at an investment firm claiming to have seen Ana and her company's President screwing on his desk after hours. The company President is denying it. Ana told the paparazzi to go to hell. She then suggested they contact the President's wife for comment on his secretary. Or better yet, ask the secretary for the security footage from the alleged tryst.

When we got the call from the Nooz about the fire at GEH, Barney hacked his way into their system and scrubbed their servers of the photos of the fire. He traced the photographs back to an anonymous email used in an internet café without cameras inside the shop. Ana tried accessing street cameras, but all she found was a hooded figure entering and exiting the café, no identifying features, not even a hair color. She's certain it was a male though. He turned onto an alley three blocks down and she thinks he may have changed his clothing in the alley. The next thing she was able to pick up on a camera was a dark blue Toyota Camry driving out of the alley. The plates were stolen in Oregon from an old Chevy truck so the trail went cold when the car entered a parking structure at the airport and was abandoned in a blind spot section of the security cameras).

Talking with Barney, he wants to get with Jonathon and see if Ana has anything on her company server that will allow them to hack the Nooz and plant a virus that will delete any tips that come in pertaining to Ana. If they can't read the tips, they can't print the lies, right?

We've been talking nearly 30 minutes when there is a knock on the door followed by Griffin sticking his head in the door. "Taylor you got a minute?"

"Sure Griff, I was just finishing up with Barney, what's up?" Barney stands ready to leave but Griffin holds his hand up.

"You may want to stick around for this one yourself Barney." We both stare at Griffin with a puzzled look. "I was going through yesterday's recorded threats, and well, I got this." He hands me a manila legal sized envelope. Opening the envelope, I see photos of Ana that must have been from her teenage years in Texas. "There are no prints on any of those or the envelope. It was sealed with glue and tape. I'm pretty sure whatever happened to her in Texas is about to become public knowledge, and I don't know how to stop it. I also think whoever sent this is connected to your arsonist, if it isn't the same person." I shift through the dozen or so pictures till I come upon the last two. There is a picture of Ana and Christian in New York, one of the paparazzi photos taken at the first charity dinner they attended. The next one though is a photo of our server room from before the fire. I know it's from before the fire, because we had the walls painted a different color after that, at Ana's urging and now I see why.

Flipping to the last page of the photos I find the threatening letter.

 _My Dearest Anastasia,_

 _I didn't know how else to get your attention. I hope that you find the enclosed photos of comfort and reminders of our time spent together. I have missed you so. I knew you had moved on to Washington, running to that worthless father of yours, but I had hoped you would remember that it was I, that was always there for you. I learned that you had a new boyfriend, quite the rich man at that._

 _I've decided to remind you of your humble beginnings. I want the finer things in life and you will provide them to me, regularly, or I will out you to the world for the trashy slut you really are. I don't want a lump sum. I want to be brought into the fold, and I want the world to know how close we are. I want you to introduce me to all the other rich idiots you know and I want you to help me rob each of them blind. I hear that is something you can do now._

 _I may not be able to get to you just yet, but I know someone who can and (who) has. I'm told that you tightened the security in the building after the fire, but it won't be enough to stop the next phase. You will help destroy Grey and everyone like him or the world will know what a cum slut you are._

 _I'm sure you'll be able to work out my identity and contact me. Until then, don't even think about going to the cops, because if you do, I'll tell the world what a sadistic bastard your boyfriend is. Maybe that will be better incentive. Everyone would love to hear what a cold (hearted) bastard he is._

 _I will be waiting Anastasia._

I flip back through the photos. One is a picture of Ana around thirteen I think, with who I assume is her mother, and another man, maybe the step-father. Another is Ana holed up in the corner of a room with just a mattress. She's in a corner with a blanket pulled around her tightly. There is a third picture of Ana sitting in a chair, you can't see anything from her neck down, but her hair is a sticky mess and her eyes look like they are swollen from crying. I can see the faint lines of a handprint on her left cheek. I try to bite back the bile threatening to rise when I realize what the sticky substance is in her hair. This is why she left Texas and never talks about it.

"Griffin, you need to call Ana, I'll call Grey. It will be her decision what we do with this." I hate my job sometimes and then there are times that I am thankful that I am in the position that I am in. I feel it could be either one right now. I see Ana as a daughter almost, and these pictures are putting me in a murderous mood. I plan to call the Colonel tonight, whether his daughter wants him knowing about this or not.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: This chapter has not been beta-ed. I had some issues at the end of last week and over the weekend that prevented me from finishing the chapter with enough time to send it off to her and still get it posted today. That being said, I have been over this chapter three times. I know that there will still be some mistakes and those are totally mine.**

 **I need to address a few reviews and private messages. A lot of you have said that Ana let Carrick off way to easy, that she wasn't her usual kick ass self. You're right, she wasn't herself, because Ana isn't sure who that is outside of Christian right now. She's going to be struggling for a bit. The thing that defined her, the reason she was so confident and kick ass, her undercover work, has been taken from her. Furthermore, her forgiveness of Carrick, is done so that Christian will return to his previous relationship with his father. Ana won't be the reason for Christian not having his family in his life, one woman already tried to wedge herself between Christian and his family. Ana won't be like that. This does not mean that she is going to trust Carrick implicitly now or want him on the inside of whatever is going on in her life.**

 **Some messaged and asked why Kate wasn't much of the last story and if she was going to be a bigger part of this story. She will be. Kate will show up at the birthday party and her life will change like never before at that party. This Kate won't be like the Kate of my other two stories.**

 **I'm hoping that this chapter helps with a few more of your answers. The next two chapters should help resolve a lot of what was left from the Steele Heart, however the search for the arsonist, and the search for Elena will remain integral to this story, along with the blast from Ana's past. One by one these things will resolve as this part of the quartet comes to an end. There will be no huge cliffhanger before part three starts. Part three will be a happy and blissful time when it starts. Still not giving you the title for it, because that would be too revealing for the storyline.**

 **Anyway, here is your chapter. Remember that I am on Facebook and Pinterest, links in my bio. I don't own FSoG, but I love being able to tell you this version of Christian and Ana.**

 **I'm off to write a tequila dance party scene and a little bit of Dr. McCharming. Grey Vitals should make it up on time, on Wednesday.**

 **Laters**

A Steel Love

 **Chapter 2**

Grace's POV

Looking at my watch, I note that I still have 15 minutes until Ana gets here. I arranged to be here so that I may talk to her before Mia arrives. I've not had more than a minute alone with Ana since that damn brunch, and I need to discuss a few things with her before Christian's birthday party. I need her to finally put Carrick in his place and punish him properly. Frankly, I'm sick of seeing him pouting around the house. His practiced forced him to take a leave of absence after they got all the files on those people in Texas. Turned out the kid was a serial sexual deviant, and his parents were con artists and embezzlers. His partners didn't like being made to look like a fool.

Christian has made it known I am not allowed to ask about Texas. When and if Ana ever wants to tell me, she will. I have grown to love Ana dearly, if not for what she's done by loving Christian, but for her perseverance and determination to rise above everything that has happened. I went to Escala to visit them two days ago and entered during an argument. She was urging Christian to talk to Carrick and see that his father was only trying to protect him. That while he certainly made mistakes in what he did, and was wrong in his assumptions, he was still Christian's father. I applaud Ana for wanting to help them mend their relationship, but I don't think it's going to be that easy.

I know my son, if Ana doesn't mend things with Carrick, Christian won't. The bad thing here is, that until things are at least amicable between Christian and Carrick, I won't be able to fix things in my own relationship with my husband. We've not slept in the same bed since the brunch. I was so pissed at Carrick. When he made that comment about not wanting another illegitimate grandchild I snapped. The situation with Elliot and Brooklynne is nothing like what it is with Christian and Ana. I slapped my husband for the first time ever and he was lucky I didn't punch him like my brother taught me.

When Elliot came to see us while Christian and Ana were in New York, I was so excited. We'd already been told about Brooklynne, but when he came to dinner to ask about arranging for us to meet her, Carrick made so many asinine remarks. He asked if she was the only kid Elliot had out there, seeing as he never stuck with a woman long. He asked why she was his dirty little secret. He didn't understand when Elliot tried to explain that the girl's mother was worried for her safety, but with Elena now a fugitive, it was safer for him to come out publicly as Brooklynne's father, rather than deny it. Carrick wanted a DNA test done before he met her. He didn't care that Elliot had already had one done. Carrick wanted to arrange the test. He then wanted Elliot to stay away from her until Carrick arranged for a standard visitation and child support schedule. He and Elliot argued about how Elliot wanted permanent custody. He told Elliot he wasn't responsible enough and it was best to leave my granddaughter in the care of her aunt and for Elliot to see her as little as possible, to ensure he didn't disrupt her life. I was livid then. Elliot stormed out and hasn't been back to the house since. Ana, Christian, and Mia have all been able to facetime with Elliot and Brooklynne, but I've been snubbed simply because I am still married to Carrick.

We celebrate 35 years of marriage this fall, and I've spent the last six weeks wondering if it will be the last anniversary we celebrate together. I can't mend my marriage. Carrick must do it, and for him to do it, he must repair his relationship with our sons. He and Mia will be just fine if he keeps paying her credit card bills.

Another side effect from that damn brunch, Lily's arrest. I smile thinking of her face plastered across the tabloids being hauled away from the Bravern center in hand cuffs. It was even better than her mugshot. Orange is not Lily's color. Mia was so incensed about her friend's arrest. She blamed Carrick, but I explained to Mia that it was Lily who decided to hide that video from all the agents. It was Lily that decided to go against their orders and violated the NDA and other affidavits she signed. She ruined Ana's undercover work and was damn lucky that she stopped recording before Carrick revealed Ana's codename. Thankfully that was never printed. I would hate to think how much danger Ana would be in if it had been.

Having been checking my email on my phone, I look up in time to see Ana and Sawyer entering the private dining room. Ana suggested we take the room for the couple hours we are here so that we wouldn't be disturbed. We placed our orders earlier in the week so that we can be served immediately once Mia arrives. We will need every minute to get through all the details with Mia and her easily distracted mind.

"Hello Grace." Ana greets me with a kiss on my cheek before she nods to Sawyer, dismissing him.

"Hello dear, how are you?" I take a sip of my water while she situates herself at the table.

"Well, better. I was just with your husband. We've set things right. Hopefully he takes my advice and is on his way to GEH to see Christian and really apologize to him. I want this settled and to never be discussed again. Well I know it's going to be discussed, the publishers I've talked to all want it in the book as to how I "was outted"." She uses the air quotes for emphasis.

"Have you decided which publishing house you are going with?" I hide my elation on her having been with Carrick. I just hope she didn't go easy on him.

"Seattle Independent Publishing. I really like the way they do things there. I'll finalize everything with them on Monday. The only two demands I have is that all of my proceeds go to Coping Together, and they find me a different editor than the one they had me meet with. That man was a creep of epic proportions and I won't spend any amount of my time in his presence discussing the ins and outs of my secret agent life. I've decided to run my extensive check on him over the weekend. I'm hoping I'll find something in there to show their Chief Editor as a reason to find someone new other than Jack Hyde's creep factor." She wastes no time signally the waiter in the room.

I watch as he walks to the table, "Is there something I can get you ma'am?" He's a young man, college age, a bit of a handsome face. He can't stop staring at Ana's chest though. How long before she notices?

"Yes, you can start by getting me a glass of whatever the house Sauvignon Blanc is. Then you can notify your manager of my request of a new server. Preferably a female one." I watch her turn away from the young man and I try to hide my snicker, but her grin shows my failure. "So, Grace, tell me how you are and don't hold back." She looks at her watch and then back at me. "By my calculations, we have about six minutes before hurricane Mia gets her. What's happening with you and Carrick?"

"Honestly?" If she wants to hear, I'll tell her. It would be nice to rant to someone that won't judge me. She simply nods, so I continue. "I haven't let Carrick sleep in our bed since the brunch. We barely talk at dinner on the nights we are both home. This week is the first week he's been back at the office since the partners asked him to take a leave of absence." She does her best to school her features, but I can tell that one was a shock to her. "Yes, when they got all the records from that Texas family, they realized he had been snowed and if he hadn't been quick to hop on the Anti-Ana train they'd have never taken the case. They told him to either take the leave, or they'd force him out of the practice. Elliot still won't let me meet my granddaughter, and because I'm still in the house with my husband, I'm not allowed any more than the pictures Mia has shown me from her phone. And frankly, if one more nurse ask me if you're blackmailing my son into staying with you, I'm going to burn the hospital down."

She erupts with laughter at the last part. "Okay Grace. Don't do anything drastic. What do you say we go over to Franco's tomorrow, just you and me? We'll get the works done. I think we could both use a little relaxation and I've not had a massage since I met your son. We'll get the party done on Sunday, and then we'll plan a girls' night every week after that. We can ask Kate, Mia, Andrea, Gail and my new assistant Hannah can join us. We'll find different things to do each week. I'll let you plan this week, I'll take the following week, and so on and so on. That way we only get stuck with Mia's shop-a-thons every so often. I can tell you though, Kate will want to find the grittiest dive bar she can and spend the night drinking cocktails and talking about the men in our lives."

I smile broadly, because frankly, I love that she wants this with me. I know that her relationship with her mother is strained, at best, and I would love nothing more than for Ana to be my daughter. I already know that Christian plans to propose to her. Having her for a friend on top of that would be marvelous. "Oh, you young girls don't want to hang out with me."

She cocks an eyebrow at me and slightly tilts her head, a look she must have picked up from my son, "Grace. If I didn't want to spend time with you, I wouldn't invite you. You should know that about me by now. I think it would do us some good to take time away from the boys. If we do it with cosmos and margaritas, then that is even better. It would do me and Christian some good to spend some time apart as well. Working and living together, while it's been blissful so far, doesn't meant that it will always be that way. We'll need breaks from each other. He's already making sure our schedules sync up, we enter and exit the office together most work days. I have lunch with him more often than not. I love Christian, but for years I was a creature of habit and space and loneliness were part of those habits. He's already cleared his schedule to attend my seminar with me at Langley in August. I should be in New York in September for a small press tour, if I decide to sign with the publishing house. I'm going to need the girls' nights. I love Christian, but we're going to need to not be so codependent with each other if we're going to be long term."

I'm about to respond when Mia finally makes her appearance. She's bustling in wearing a white lace sleeveless dress. It's a little shorter than I would like to see her in during the day, but not as short as some of the outfits she wears when she's with her friends. "Mom, Ana. Are we ready to get down to business?" She sits and then proceeds to pull out a notebook from the rose gold Kate Spade bag I gave her for her birthday in March.

"Woah, Mia, what have you got there?" Ana looks quizzically at her when she's the notebook with all the tabs sticking out the sides.

"This is my party planning book for Christian's birthday. I have everything in here." She looks at us like we should have known that. "I have the guest list, the food, decorations, and everything else."

Oh, poor Ana. I forget she's never dealt with Mia during party planning mode.

Ana's POV

"Mia, you do realize, that this is supposed to just be a few friends and family? I'm not planning to host 100 guests in my home for Christian's birthday. I want him to relax and enjoy himself. That means no business associates and none of your friends." I hear Grace snicker beside me and Mia's face falls.

"But I already told Mikayla she could come. And I've already called all of Daddy's partners at the firm. I thought it would be good for them to all be there." Mia looks crestfallen, but this is the exact reason that I told her I would handle the guest list. I sent invitations, and Reynolds and Ryan will both be stationed downstairs. If you don't have an invitation with the watermark, you're not getting upstairs.

"Sorry Meems, but I sent out invitations already. I'll dropbox you the guest list. I told you I would take care of this. I gave you the task of dealing with the cake. All you needed to do was find a good place and order the cake. No fancy fillings or frosting. Christian's favorite is chocolate with buttercream frosting. It's his party. Your mom made arrangements with the caterer, and Gail is dealing with decoration." I turn my attention to Grace to ask for an update on the food. "Did you handle everything with the caterers, get them to sign the NDAs?"

She smiles sweetly at me as she answers, "Yes dear, just as you suggested we went with heavy hors d'oeuvres. There will be a buffet style table set up as well with a salad and pasta bar. Lots of fresh fruit too. They will be bringing five servers. I sent all their names to Jason last week so that he could check them before allowing them in the apartment."

"Good, that is one less thing for me to worry about, thank you. I almost decided to assign security to serve at the party, Christian and Taylor both have been such sticklers about security since Lily's video leak." I see Mia cringe with that one and her cheeks start to pink.

"Ana, I can't apologize enough about that." I raise a hand to stop Mia before she can continue.

"Mia, we've been over this before. My days were numbered with my undercover work. I want to eventually have a family with your brother, and I can't do that jet setting around the globe as a secret agent. I wish that I could have done without the public reveal, but it is what it is. I can't even be terribly upset with Carrick. The people that gave him his information, purposely gave him half the story and misleading tips. They wanted my life to turn to turmoil, and I'm not going to let that happen. I will rise above this like I have in the past when I've faced a difficult situation. Although, I must say it was satisfying seeing Lily in the orange jumpsuit. You need better friends Mia." I don't hold back with her. We've had this exact same conversation at least once a week since everything happened. I'm hoping that with Grace here I can get through to her. "In fact, your mom and I were talking about having a girls' night this week. You'll meet Kate and my new assistant Hannah at the party on Sunday. You'll love them. Kate loves to shop as well."

Her smile finally reaches the edges of her face, genuine as her answer, "I would really love that. Now tell me, what did you get Christian for his birthday?"

Smiling to myself, I think of the three presents I've picked out for him. The first he'll be allowed to open on Sunday as soon as he wakes. It's a present for the both of us and I have to press my thighs together as I think of all the kinky contents of the box wrapped in my closet. I won't be telling them about that gift. "I got him two gifts. The first is a surprise. Only Jason and Luke know anything about it, and that's because of security and logistics. He'll be getting it in the afternoon before the party. It's how I'm getting him out of the house before the party. The second gift, is a solar powered helicopter. I had a replica of Charlie Tango made and one of the guys down in the Research and Development department made is solar powered for me. I know Christian will love it." Boys and their toys. Christian is no exception and I can't wait for him to open it. "What did you two get him?"

Grace answers first, "I'm afraid I wasn't as thoughtful as you were. I just arranged for day of training with the Mariners."

"Grace, he's going to love that. He and dad are already trying to figure which games they plan to occupy the box at this summer. They wanted to go to the game Yankees next weekend, but Daddy has a fishing trip planned with Jason. They've had to cancel this trip three times because of some security issue. I've told them yesterday, no more. I don't care what comes up they need to go. We have plenty of security, and Escala is a fortress. We'll be plenty happy to spend the weekend at home. And if we do decide to go out, we have Sawyer, Ryan, Prescott, and the rest of the team. They've all been put on notice that they will be on call those days. I don't expect to leave the apartment though, except maybe to go out on The Grace." The waiter has finally delivered our food. A fresh garden salad and grilled Salmon with a lemon butter sauce.

"Mia dear, what did you get Christian?" Grace looks pointedly at her daughter. Knowing Mia, she racked up a bill on her father's credit card.

"I got Christian a selection of colorful ties. He's always wearing the same monotone ones. He needs a little color in his wardrobe. I selected each one personally at Nieman's last week. There's a few bright jewel toned ties, a couple pastels, including a red Tom Ford Micro Dot Silk Tie and an Ermenegildo Zenga Neat Box Silk Tie in a beautiful yellow. I thought about getting shirts to go with each, but I thought that might be too much. They would all be the perfect pop of color against any of the shirts he already has." I smile, because Kate planned to get him a new tie as well. She said he needed some color. The three times she's met Christian, he's been in grey everything.

"That is perfect. He needs color. We're going to look at some new furniture in a couple weeks. I've been living with him almost two months now, and it still feels like a museum at Escala. We've decided to try and redecorate the place together. Kind of rid the place of the Ghosts of Grey past." I'm not going to mention that the redecorating of Escala will only happen if Christian and I don't find a new place to buy in the next couple weeks. When I first mentioned that I thought redecorating the place would do us some good, kind of a fresh start for Escala, something that was us, he had to top me. "Let's buy a house" he said.

He talks about the future and what he wants all the time. Two weeks ago, when I said I wanted the place to be a mix of the two of us, he suggested we get a house. He started talking about how instead of wasting time on redoing Escala, we could find some place new and grow with each other together in it. He talked about wanting to find a home we could raise a family in. I must say that at first, I was a little panicked, then I remembered that my undercover work was over.

For the last two weeks, I've dreamed of a meadow and a little copper headed boy running around. I want that with him. I want it all with him. I want to get married, I want to travel with him, and then I want to have babies with him. I just hope he doesn't take two years to propose.

We spend the next half hour discussing the timeline for Sunday. I am showing Christian his surprise gift at 2 pm. Grace and Mia will be there with Gail to set up and get ready to greet everyone. We will be back at 4:30 to shower and get ready for the party that starts at 6 pm. I don't know what I'm more excited for on Sunday though, the morning gift I have planned, the afternoon gift, or the party. I'm pulled from my inner thoughts when Sawyer approaches.

"Ana, we have a situation at Grey House and your return is needed." I check my phone and I've received nothing. It's the look on his face that gives him away though. It's a personal security issue, not a GEH security issue. Shit. Everything had been going so well. I make my excuses to Grace and Mia. I arranged to have lunch charged to my card, not Christian's, so they don't need to worry about paying.

"Sawyer, what is the status?"

"Honestly, I don't know Ana. I was just told to get you back to GEH and send you to Mr. Grey's office." He ushers me out of the building and into the Audi waiting at the curb, Ryan driving.

I spend the 20-minute ride back to GEH, wondering which of my missions is biting me in the ass now. How did my name get linked with Blacksmith? Lily is under solitary confinement, and is only allowed communication with her lawyer. I know Senator Blandino understands his gag order. He doesn't want any more scandal after Olivia's involvement was revealed to the news. Of course, the media, knows nothing about my mission in New York. They country only knows that Senator Blandino's only daughter was mixed up in a human trafficking ring. That was enough to get him kicked off the Senate Intelligence committee, but the damage had already been done to me. He had already sent Carrick his info full of half-truths. After my talk with Carrick today, I'll be able to force him to resign, and then I'm going after Agent Moron. That asswipe messed with the wrong chick. I'll make sure his wife gets everything now, not just half.

Christian's POV

My meeting with Mr. Calderon was more fruitful than I expected. He brought several stones with him. All varying shades of blue, some diamonds, aquamarine, sapphire and even a few blue emeralds. He had three rings, each with a different center stone, but each one a replica of some famous ring. He tried to get me to select a sapphire ring much like Kate Middleton's. I told him I wanted a one of a kind. That's when he brought out his tablet. He showed me a selection of rings that would be at auction within the next month. I showed him the one I wanted. It's beautiful and it was made for Ana.

I'm just about to notify Andrea that I am ready for my lunch when my office door opens an in walks my brother.

"What up dick head?" Yeah, that's Elliot for you.

"My stock portfolio."

"Whatever. I need some brotherly advice." He drops into a chair in front of my desk, the one Ana usually occupies.

"You look beat Lelliot. Tell me what's going on." I send a text to Andrea to order lunch for two as is appears my brother will be joining me.

"I don't know what to do anymore Chris. I've spent the last two months trying to play nice with Leila for Brooklynne's sake, but I don't think that I can do it anymore. I want to stop fighting with dad and for him to acknowledge her because I need him to help me secure custody of my daughter." I cringe at the mention of Leila's name. This is the first time we've managed to be alone together and I think that it's time I tell Elliot about my past connection to her.

"What's going on with Leila?" I need to hear what is going on while I figure out how I'm going to tell him this.

"Dude, she's like obsessed with you and Ana. She's constantly asking me questions about you guys. She spews hate on Ana every time Brookie calls her Aunt Ana. She's refusing to let me bring her to the party on Sunday unless I let her come with me." Shit Shit Shit. If that woman shows up Ana will surely pull out her gun. I can't have that.

"I think I can connect a few dots for you. Remember when I told you about my past with Elena and the women before Ana?" He looks at me and I know that he's thinking back to that day in the diner. I glossed over most of it, but he has a few of the details. Only Mom and Dad really have it all, and Mia only knows that Elena seduced me at 15.

"I remember she seduced you when you were underage and then afterwards, you only had weekend sexual relationships with women after that. Why? Was Leila one of your subs?"

I look my big brother in the eye and answer him honestly. "Yes." My NDA with my subs only prevented them from talking about our relationship. The NDAs never prevented me from talking about it.

"Shit bro, really you whipped and fucked her."

"Yes. She was the longest sub I ever had. She lasted 16 months before she started demanding more time and to meet the family. She told me she was in love with me and I kicked her out. After that I found out she had been trying to befriend Mia, and had surreptitiously ran into Mother one day. She came into my office and I told me she'd had a lovely chat with her, and it was time I took her for Sunday dinner. She tried to sneak back into Escala several times after that. After my contract ended with the last sub, almost a year ago, she tried to gain access to me again. When she couldn't get past the elevator at Escala, she showed up here at GEH. I nearly took a restraining order out on her. She's batshit crazy and I hate that she's the aunt of my only niece." He's looking a little pale. "You okay Elliot?"

"I took her out on a couple dates. She kept going on and on about how it would be wonderful to be a family. Dude, I hate that woman. I had to pretend I had too much to drink, like my dick wouldn't work, so that I wouldn't have to sleep with her. I know she's crazy. But legally I have no claim to Brooklynne right now. I need to get a lawyer and that is why I need to make things right with dad. If he can accept my daughter, then I can make peace with him." As if he had been summoned my speaker crackles with Andrea's voice.

"Mr. Grey, I have your father out here requesting to see you." I take a deep breath before I respond to her. I look at Elliot and I know he's curious as I am as to why our father is here.

"Should we see what the old man has to say for himself?" The glint in his eyes tell me he is.

"Send him Andrea." Not ten seconds later Carrick Grey walks into my office. I can tell that he is surprised to see Elliot here, but he recovers quickly.

"I'm glad to see the both of you here. I need to say a few things and it will be easier with you together." He truly looks remorseful for the first time in his life. My guess is mom sent him here. She's been giving him the cold shoulder since the brunch.

"Well sit down and tell us what you need to." Elliot just continues to sit there silently waiting to see what he has to say.

"I need to apologize first." I raise my hand to stop him before he continues.

"You don't need to apologize to me. You need to apologize to Ana." He's nodding his head and it's his response that surprises me.

"I did earlier today, just before I came over here actually. She forgave me and then told me I needed to pull my head out of my ass and apologize to each of you as well as Grace. I told her everything I knew, and then she set me straight on a few things." He turns to Elliot and I can see the tears welling in his eyes when he addresses him. "Elliot, I was horrible to you. I've been horrible to my granddaughter. I want to get to know her and spoil her, and I've missed out on that for nearly two months. Please forgive me. Please let me in her life. I promise to never doubt her. I will love her unconditionally as I have you and your siblings. I will support you in any way I can so that you can be the best father you can be. Please just forgive me and let me know my granddaughter." Well shit. Now I want to cry. I've spent too much time watching chick flicks with Ana.

Elliot looks completely shocked and speechless. I watch him as the war wages on in his eyes. Does he forgive him or not? Dad said some pretty hurtful things. I watch as the seconds tick by, Dad's tears falling without being wiped away. Next thing I know Elliot is out of his seat and pulling our father up and into a hug, the both of them crying. I sit and watch not knowing what to do. I know they are whispering back and forth, but I can't make out what they are saying.

They pull apart and I can finally hear dad. "We'll make it happen. We'll get your daughter for you. Don't fight with her for now. I'll draw up the paperwork this afternoon and file before the end of the day. We should be able to get a court date for some time next week. Brooklynne is a Grey and she belongs with all of us. For now, you play nice. I don't think it would be a good idea to bring her to the party on Sunday though. How about dinner at our house on tomorrow night? You said you get Brooklynne overnight tomorrow. Don't tell Leila what you're doing. I truly can't wait to meet your daughter. Now maybe your mother will talk to me." We're all smiling at that because we know not to piss off Grace Grey, although I would rather incur my mother's wrath before enduring the wrath the Anastasia Steele.

We sit and talk for about 30 minutes. Andrea brings us lunch during this time. Dad decided he wants to take my tickets to the Mariners game next week. I was going to go with Ray, but Ana insisted he finally take his fishing trip with Taylor and we are going to spend the weekend inside the penthouse short listing properties to view and buy.

We've only just finished our lunch when Taylor shows up at my door with Griffin and Barney. What's going on.

"Sir, we have a situation. I've already had Griffin call Sawyer and Ana should be back here within the next ten minutes. She's going to need to see this and decide how we proceed." I see the manila envelope in his hand. Dad makes his excuses and tells us he will see us tomorrow. Elliot stays right where he is.

"Elliot, I love you. But this is not something you need to stay for. You need to hit the road. Whatever is in this envelope is company business." Actually, I am positive that it's a personal matter seeing as Taylor and Barney are both here with Griffin.

"All right, I know when I'm not wanted. I'll see you tomorrow little brother. Be sure and bring the good wine. Send Ana my love dick head." With that my brother is out the door.

I sit at my desk and take the envelope from Taylor when he hands it to me. "Sir, I think that you should probably wait until Ana gets here. There are photos in there that will, well I worry about the state of your office furniture once you see them. Ana is going to need to be here to keep you calm." Shit it's gotta be bad.

I sit and stare at the envelope in my hands and wait for my love to arrive. I try and not think about the contents inside and instead think about the ring that I'm going to put on Ana's finger in October. I've already contacted Hannah with the dates that need to be blocked off. I've ensured that her press tour for her book will be done by then. Thankfully she will only have engagements on Fridays and Saturdays, so I will be able to be with her each weekend. I've been researching resorts to take her to and I think that I've narrowed it down to three. Taylor will have to access each one from a security stand point.

I'm imaging what she'll look like, spread out under me as we make love beneath the northern lights when she finally enters the office with Sawyer in tow.

"Someone want to tell me what is going on." She looks between the three men at my conference table and me. I lift myself out of my seat and walk to her. Placing a kiss on her lips I simply hand her the envelope I've been holding, surprised I managed to not rip it open.

"Taylor brought this in. I've not looked inside yet." We walk to the table and join the others, my hand on the small of her back. She sits in a chair to the side of the head of the table, next to my usual seat. I stand behind her with a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She takes a deep breath and then she opens the envelope.

One by one she places photos on the table. Some of them are from her teenage years. Some of them are from the last two months, paparazzi photos. Then she gets to the last photo and I see the tears starting to fall. She's silent and everyone is staring at her. She places the photo on the table with the others, and I pick it up to get a good look at it. Ana can't be more than 15 in the photo. It's a photo from the shoulders up, bare shoulders. Her hair is matted and coated with something sticky. Her eyes are puffy, probably from crying, and closed. Her lip is split and coated in dried blood. I scrutinize the photo and realization hits me. It's a photo from when that fucker held her in his basement with his buddies and she's covered in their semen.

"Call my father." It's the only words she utters. Taylor's phone is to his ear before I can reach mine. Ana hands me that last page from the envelope and I proceed to read the letter accompanying the photos. I see red, I want to punch a wall. I want to kill someone, starting with that Brad Matthews fucker. But my girl needs me now. She's usually so strong, but she's crumbling right before my own eyes. I drop to my knees next to her, spinning her chair around so that she is in front of me.

"Princess, Snow White, we'll do this however you want. I am here for you. We all are. Your dad is on his way. We'll make a plan and we'll take care of this. You just tell us what you want to do." I'm holding her hand and wiping her tears, when she finally finds her voice.

"First we call the police. I'm not going to let that bastard think he can try and pull some kind of shit like this. Then I'm taking that photo and I'm going to call Kate. I am not going to sit and wait for him to send it to the press. I'm getting ahead of the story. I'll give little details. SIP will want to save the real juicy stuff for the book. Kate and I are writing next week. We have three weeks to get it to the editor, then it's being fast tracked for editing so that it can go to print and be on shelves September 12th. I'm can't let someone else control the direction in which my life goes. I have to take control and find who I am without the CIA. I have to do this separate from you and GEH as well. I just hope that you understand." I don't, but I'm not going to tell her that. I am just going to be here for her, every step of the way.

"Whatever you need Snow White. You know I'm am always here for you." I place a chaste kiss to her lips, conscious of the others in the room. Pulling away I look her in the eyes and I see the resolve settle in. "What's the plan?"


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Once again, thank you everyone for the amazing reviews and words of encouragement. I wish I had time to update this story more than once a week, but until my children go to school next month, that won't be possible. As it is, next's weeks A Steele Love chapter will be delayed. We are heading for family vacation in Texas on Thursday. I'm not sure yet if A Submissive beginning will be prepared with time for me to sneak a posting in on Friday. However, Grey Vitals will be posted on schedule for this week and next week as well.**

 **Most of you know, I am on Facebook now under Steele Heart and I am in several of the Facebook groups. Also, pinterest has boards to follow along. The links for each are in my bio.**

 **Now to address the private messages I received last week. Several of you expressed concern that Ana had PTSD and didn't break down enough for you in the last chapter. Ana does not have PTSD. She could have easily succumbed to it, but she found a way to persevere. Not every case of sexual trauma result in PTSD. Just as not all cases of soldier/marines returning from war result in PTSD. Not everyone with PTSD is a simpering emotional girl, or a violent abusive criminal. I try to not write about things I don't know about. I won't say I am a computer genius, nor do I work for the CIA or any government agency. However, when it comes to the other aspects of Ana's life, I know what I'm talking about.**

 **In A Steele Heart, Ana talked about shooting at the on-post gun range when she was eight years old. Several someones messaged me and proceeded to tell me that was impossible. It's not. I was shooting my father's beloved colt .45 when I was eight years old, and I was good at it. I still am. My daughter was three the first time we took her to the gun range, on-post. It was her birthday and she wanted to shoot her grandfather's .22. She put a couple of soldiers to shame out there as well. While she wasn't a dead shot immediately, she could at least hit the paper, all she needed was a little support holding the weight of the rifle. It's about safety and proper teaching. Knowledge is power in our home and my husband I have chosen to raise our children much like we were. If it's done safely, there is nothing to fear. My daughter will be eleven soon, and has asked for her deer tags this year as part of her birthday presents.**

 **Anyway, I have gotten off topic. Before you grab your pitchforks and tell me I'm raising a couple of future murders because I let me children handle guns, remember from previous A/Ns, my children are military children. They are around them daily from birth. Hell, my daughter was born on the opening day of rifle season for deer hunting, and when my son was born, my husband had to leave for part of the day to check our weapons to the men and women in his unit for shooting qualification training. This is the life they have been raised in, and I was raised by a wonderful country man. My father, god rest his soul, taught me everything I know, and though my husband has been in the military for 14 years, I can still out shoot him when it comes to handguns. He's got me on the rifle, as he should, but my daddy taught me everything, from a young age, and there is nothing wrong with that.**

 **I hope you all enjoy this story, and please remember it is my story. Thanks a million to the AMAZING Gate Park, the greatest beta in the world. She helped make this chapter incredible, even with the amazing tv night we had last night. I may have slacked off on finishing my chapter of Grey Vitals, but come on. We had Big Brother, Game of Thrones, Phelps vs. Shark. Then my husband and kids needed to watch the wrestling pay-per-view. I was lucky I made it to bed before midnight and I still need to watch the dvr from last night.**

 **As always, I don't own FSOG. I am loving playing in EL's sandbox though.**

 **Ps. If you message me on Facebook, I might be persuaded to share the photo of my daughter at the range on her third birthday. It's quite adorable, and she's wearing camo overalls. She refused to take those overalls off for her birthday party as well, which was Tinkerbell themed. She wore her tutu and fairy wings over the camouflage and it's one of my favorite photos of her ever.**

 **Laters**

A Steele Love

Chapter 3

Ana's POV

 _'I will not break down in front of these men. I will not break down in front of these men. I will not break down in front of these men. I will not break down in front of these men'._

I repeat my mantra over and over in my head. It's been 45 minutes since I demanded my father be called. He's going to be so pissed. The Colonel doesn't take kindly to his little girl being hurt. He's never going to be able to look at me the same way again. Until I met Christian, I had never told another person every sordid detail of what happened in Texas. My dad knew that my mother was neglectful. He knew that her husband was verbally abusive. He knew that I tried to tell the police in Texas what had happened to me, but they called me mentally unstable and threw me in juvie for three weeks.

When I went to the training farm in Langley, I had to meet with a psychologist. I had to pass all the necessary psychological evaluations. We spoke briefly about what Brad Matthews had done to me. While I didn't give her the full details, it was easily perceptible that even though I was emotionally scarred from the ordeal, it made me a more focused agent. Instead of needing to talk it out, or instead of turning to drugs, or alcohol, I found healthier outlets. I started mixed martial arts training. I kick boxed. I might have gone a little over board with that hack on the Matthews family, but it turned out okay in the end. I've never hacked another person, business or country without it being sanctioned since then. I found additional positive outlets. I take relaxing vacations to reset my mind when life gets to be too much. I read, though not as much as I would like, I've volunteered at a few sexual assault centers after I returned to Washington. Just spending time with Daddy fishing is great for me, though I've not done that enough in the last two years. With time, I formed meaningful attachments to people. I'm not scared of the dark; I don't panic every time I a man is near. The CIA gave me the tools to overcome my outrageous and heinous attack.

But now I'm losing the agency, and my past is coming back to haunt me. I need this room cleared. There are too many people in here.

"Get them out." I have been sitting in the same chair in the same position since I asked for my father. Christian has stayed by my side and the instant the words slip from my mouth; he is back to kneeling in front of me. "Get them all out. I don't want anyone in here but my father when he gets here." I see a flash of pain in his eyes, but he knows me better than anyone. I will need Christian tonight. I will need him to keep the nightmare at bay. But this afternoon, I need him to bring me my father, and I need him to keep the pack at bay so that I can finally tell him what had happened.

My dad's image of the little girl he knew is going to be shattered. Looking at my watch I note that he should be here any minute. "I love you, Snow White. I'm going to go down to Taylor's office. Sawyer will be right out the door. I'll send Andrea in with some tea for you and your father. We'll get through this. Anything you need. I'll call Kate and ask her to come to the apartment tonight for dinner." I stroke his cheek and watch as he leans into my palm.

"I love you too, my Knight. I'll be okay. My dad won't be. Ask Taylor to turn on the cameras, but without audio or recording. If he sees Daddy start to pace, he might need to intervene. Once he's moving he won't stop until he's destroyed a few things. I'm glad that the windows are shatterproof." I try to smile and I know that it isn't working when I see his smile not reaching his stormy grey eyes.

"Alright, Princess. I love you." He places a kiss to my head and I wait to hear the door close behind him. Once I hear it shut, I'm up out of the chair and across the room. Walking to the windows behind Christian's desk, I stare at the Seattle skyline like I've seen him do so many times before. I don't know how long I'm standing there before I hear the knock at the door.

I turn to see who it is and the relief when I see my dad is immense. "Daddy!" I rush around Christian's desk and throw myself in his arms. I love Christian, but he's not my father. This man is my first hero, my first protector, and will always be my defender. I'm a sobbing mess, and I know it's because of everything that has been piled on me in the last two months. I know realistically, even if I hadn't started my relationship with Christian, things would have slowly fallen apart. Sabbah's plan had been to frame me for everything. So much could have been avoided though if Carrick had been a rationale man and let Christian and I speak with him in private. I still think that with us being unreachable while in the Maldives set him on high alert. We never touched base with anyone after New York. As far as the world knew, we were in New York to parade around for cameras and have a romantic time together. The public never knew about our mission to stop the bombing at the UN conference. Well, they won't know until my book comes out. It's the penultimate episode before I was exposed to the world as a secret agent for the US government.

"I'm here sweetheart. Taylor didn't tell me what was going on, and neither did that man of yours, but I know something is wrong. Whatever it is, you are strong. You will make it through this. I know this." His grip on me is tight. I didn't even cry like this when I made it back to Seattle after leaving Texas.

"It's all been too much Daddy. It's a bit of everything, but today... Honestly, I thought today was going to be the turning point, but people just won't leave well enough alone. I don't know how much more I can take. Christian's poor security team. I am going to need to take some of my frustration out and they always end up limping off the mat." Giving my dad a small smile as I attempt to use a little humor to help remind myself that I am ok; that I already survived this shitty episode of my youth. I take a deep breath because the next part won't be easy.

"The reason I had Jason call you though, well, my time with mom in Texas is coming back to haunt me. Christian is the only person I've ever told everything to, not even the intake shrinks at the Farm know all the details. I tried to tell the police when I was in Texas, but no one believed me. I was the "trashy daughter" of the boy's neighbor. I was accused of lying to get revenge for being turned down for a date and making everything up, trying to stay out of jail. All it took was one call from Brad Matthews' mother and I was sent to juvie for three weeks. After that I kept my head down and bided my time until I could get emancipated. Then I came home to you. I eventually found a way to get past it all, the CIA helped a lot with that, as did you and the Marines that you let me destroy while training. It's been ten years though and although I hope this day would never come, it's time I tell you what happened."

"Annie, what do you need to tell me? I remember your mother telling me that you said you hit that boy because he had been harassing you, but are you saying it was more than that?" I look at my father's eyes and I see the uncertainty and the fear there, and I know that I'm about to shatter his little girl image of me.

"Let's sit down. Andrea will be bringing in some tea in a moment." And as if she could hear me, there she is, entering the door with the tea service tray. She's even added a few finger sandwiches and crackers. I'll take the crackers, but I'm to nauseas to eat anything else. "Thank you, Andrea."

"You're welcome Ana. If you need anything else, you know what to do." She's back out the door the moment she's done speaking. I try and stall the confessions as long as a I can while I fix each of us a cup of tea. Andrea has been a dear and left the bag out, just the way that I like. Before I can pour my father's cup though he puts a hand on my own to still me.

"Tell me, please. My mind is playing some awful tricks on me. I've got all kinds of scenarios running wild."

I gulp and look him square in the eyes. "I'm sure some of what you're thinking isn't too far off the mark. I'll start with the beginning. I was so mad about moving. I hated Texas before I even crossed the state line." I take a sip of my tea and then turn toward my dad and curl my feet up under me, kicking my heels off in the process. "I never liked Stephen Morton, but it took two years for me to have a real reason. He was agreeable for the most part till not long after my fourteenth birthday. Then he became harsh in way I'd never even experienced. I've seen you yell and cut down a marine with your words, but even you've never been (as) harsh about it. Stephen would find any reason to put me down. Yell at me for things that weren't under my control. If something went wrong at work, it was my fault. He once got a flat tire on the way home. He blamed it on me. That was the first time he showed me his true colors. He sent me to my room, and when I tried to come down for dinner I couldn't. He had propped a chair under the handle to keep me inside. The next day, he installed a lock on the outside of the guest room. He didn't want anyone suspecting anything so he left my room well enough alone. The first time he threw me in there was after I had talked to you. I remember I had cried for you to come get me and he didn't like that. Told me that I was good for nothing and nothing is what I deserved. He tossed me in the room with only a mattress in the corner of the room. I was there for a day and a half; he told the school I was sick with the flu. He only let mom in the room to give me water and a salad once a day. He said I was too fat to eat anything else. That wasn't the harshest though. When I tried to tell my mom about the neighbor kid harassing me, he called me a tease and put me in there for a week. But it felt like longer. He boarded up the window and sealed it so that I couldn't tell if it was day or night. Two weeks later, I was attacked by Brad Matthews and three of his friends."

I can feel the panic rising. I remember everything about those two days, but I never wanted my dad to know this. Taking another deep breath, I continue. "I was walking home and someone grabbed me from behind, I was fifteen by this point. A hood was thrown over my head while others grabbed my arms and legs. They drug medown into Brad's basement. I was tied to a chair and held for just over two days. It wasn't until his mother came down that I was found. She released me and promised to make my life hell if I said anything to anyone. Promised to tell everyone what a liar I was if I tried to go to the police. Mom never even noticed I was gone. Stephen did though and when he came home from work he shoved me in that room again, but not before telling me what a slut I was and saying that he was taking me to the abortion clinic if I turned up pregnant after that."

Dad starts shaking and I have to stop this, "I wasn't raped dad. They kept me in the chair the entire time. They ripped my shirt and cut my bra off. They touched me everywhere. Brad shoved himself in my mouth; the others never went that far, but all they all ejaculated on me." The tears are streaming now. "For the longest time I was filled with shame. Then I was just mad. When I attacked Brad at school it was because he was telling people I gave him a blowjob for his birthday. After those three weeks at the juvenile detention home, I kept my mouth shut. I finished the school year and then I was done. I had already started applying to schools. I had planned to graduate early and get away. I almost didn't make it. Stephen found my paperwork from Harvard. He tried to make the school hold me back, but I had tricked mom into signing the papers at the beginning of the year. There was nothing he could do. He thinks he sabotaged my scholarship to Harvard, but the truth was, I never wanted to go there. I only wanted to come home to you. Then he threatened to report me as a runaway if I left. Mom backed him up on that one. So I completed all the paperwork. I got WSU to promise me housing and even my meal card and a spot in the work study program. I wouldn't need student loans. The courts granted my emancipation without a second thought on my sixteenth birthday. Stephen tried to contest it, but the judge told him he wasn't my father, so there was nothing he could do. I didn't even go home. I had the bag I wanted and I slept at the airport. I was on the plane the next day. I've not seen him or mom since."

I get up and walk to the table. I pick up the note first and hand it to him. I take the seat next to him again while I wait for him to read it. "What the hell does this all mean and who sent this?" He's still sitting, that's a good thing.

"That was received yesterday. Security didn't read through it until today though. There are pictures on the table. You'll know who sent it when you see them. Although, how he got some of them I don't know yet." I watch Daddy get up from the couch and walk to the conference table. He carefully walks around looking at each one. I see the tear that slips down his cheek when he picks up the photo of the room Stephen use to put me in. Raymond Steele is a man of strength but in that moment I see his vulnerability.

"I should have fought your mother harder for custody. I thought it would be easier on you to have a more stable home with her. I would have been a single father in the military and that doesn't excuse you from deployments." He shakes his head and continues back around the table. He stops at the chair I occupied earlier and I know the moment he sees the photograph. Fifteen year old me; covered in the semen of four of my classmates. A roar rips from his chest and with strength I didn't know he possessed he proceeds to flip the conference table over, shattering the glass table top.

Sawyer is in the room the minute the glass breaks and then he's between us. Dad looks like a man processed. Rage fills his blue eyes in a way I've never seen in my entire life. Soon, Taylor, Christian and several other members of security are in the room. I know Sawyer thinks he needs to protect me, but my father would never hurt me. Taylor whispers something in his ear and when Daddy raises his eyes back to me, I see his love for me reflected. In that moment I leave the spot I've been rooted to for the last 15 minutes and throw my arms around him.

"I'm soooo sorry sweetpea. I really am. I'll make this right. We'll find the bastard and then he will pay. I love you and I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you." He whispers how much he loves me over and over and over while hugging me tight to his chest.

I can hear rustling and glass being moved around, but I don't pull away from my father. He needs me to hold onto him right now just as much as I need him to hold me and that's what I'm going to do.

Christian's POV

Security is helping clean up the glass in the office from the table Ray overturned. He's holding tight to Ana and I know she won't want to admit it, but she needs him right now. Tonight she'll need me, and I'm okay with this. Don't get me wrong, it's ingrained in me to protect her and I hate that I can't right now. Griffin is gathering all the photographs and talking to Sawyer in hushed tones before he hands me back the envelope with the evils of Texas sealed inside.

"Thanks Griff." He's a good kid and I was glad we were able to bring him into the fold. Taylor has been really impressed with him, although I understand there is some tension with him and Sawyer. Taylor tried to explain it a few weeks ago. He likened it to sibling rivalry. Essentially, Griffin has been part of the team around Ana for years. He has been entrusted with her safety and protected her till Sawyer walked onto the scene. Now Sawyer is the number one when it comes to Snow White's safety. I told Taylor to tell them to grow up.

"Sure thing Mr. Grey. Taylor asked Andrea to have a crew clean up and replace the table, but it won't be finished before the end of the day." He suggests everyone take the rest of the day.

"I'm going to take Ana and her father home. I need you to stay and track down Ana's step-father, Stephen Morton. We have plans this weekend and will likely put this on the back burner until Monday. I want as much information as you can get me before then." I clap Griffin on the shoulder and walk toward Ana and her father.

"Snow White, let's head home for the weekend. We'll open a bottle of wine and you can call Kate over and we'll figure this out. Ray, I've already called Gail and arranged for her to set up a guest room for you for the weekend. We were expecting you tomorrow, but I'm glad you're here now. She said she was running to the store for steaks and your favorite beer when she heard you were here tonight. What do you say?" I've got one hand on Ray's shoulder and my other hand around Ana's waist once she's released him.

"I say steak and a good beer sound good tonight. Although, I might raid your good scotch tonight." He gives me a smile, but I know it's not genuine. He pats my shoulder as he walks toward Taylor. It's taking some getting used to, but I can handle the touch of most people, so long as they know my issues to begin with. When I explained to him last month, Ray was understanding and hasn't steered outside of my safe areas.

"We'll meet you there, Daddy. I need to talk to the guys for just a few minutes. I love you." Ana places a kiss to his cheek and watches him walk away before she places her thumb and forefinger between her lips and whistles, effectively getting everyone's attention.

She waits for the team to walk back over to us and circle 'round before she speaks. "From a personal security stand point; this issue will be tabled till Monday. Griffin, I need you to start my computer's deep background check program. I've got five names I need you to run; you're going to need pen and paper for this." She waits for Griffin to walk to my desk and grab the necessary items and walk back to us.

"The first two names are a given, Stephen and Carla Morton. I want everything on them when I come back in the office on Monday. I'll leave my laptop with you, you know how to run the program. The other three names are Brad Matthews' accomplices in Texas: Boyce Fox, Damon Poole, and Adam Wade." I recognize that name and I'm not sure but I see Ryan move around Sawyer and whisper in Taylor's ear prompting a string of curses from Taylor.

"Boss, Ryan just informed me that we have some old data on Adam Wade." Taylor is vibrating and I'm not sure why.

"What are you talking about Taylor? What data?" Ana is confused, and I mirroring her confusion as well.

"Remember the Coping Together Gala?" We both nod, how could we forget really? I mean my girlfriend is the only person I know who would hand over her gun and kick ass in an $8500 dress. "Adam Wade was the man in the red and white mask bidding on you." Shit!

"Fuck. What the hell? I thought we lost this guy and that you couldn't find any ties to us through him." Someone seriously dropped the ball.

"How the hell did you get this information?" Ana doesn't seem shocked to hear this tidbit, especially since we never told her about him losing his tail. I'm sure I'll incur her wrath later.

"Ryan followed him home after the Gala. Welch had run his face through recognition software before he was discovered. However, Ryan lost track of him while we were in the Maldives and we've not seen him since. The house he was at is empty and there are no property records for him around here."

"Check Rollingwood, Texas. It was the last known city of residence for all the names I gave you. I know my mother and her husband moved, but I don't know where to."

Griffin nods and Ryan follows him out the door. Ryan will want to follow up closely with Griffin and will be beating himself for failing on the Wade front.

"Taylor, dad will want to head to bed at ten. Can you pull him aside and give him a fellow Marine pep talk before he does? Also someone needs to be assigned to shadow him covertly. I have a feeling he will sneak over to Grey Manor and have a talk with Carrick before the party on Sunday. I'd like your team to do all that they can to try and prevent a brawl. I do not need Daddy coming in with bloody knuckles and Carrick with a black eye; that will only upset Grace and may cause others to needlessly wonder what is going on. Also, Mia apparently invited quite a few people not on the list. Add someone to the downstairs lobby with Reynolds. There should be someone at the service elevator and someone in the penthouse outside the elevators. I want two members of security to confirm each attendees' ID and invite. If they weren't identified via RSVP, they are not to be let up. I don't need someone sneaking in as another's plus one." Ana concisely rattles off instructions to preemptively ward of those not on the official guest list. That is exactly what I fear Leila will do. Shit, I need to tell them about her.

"Speaking of people sneaking in, Leila Williams is trying something fierce to get into this party with Elliot. He's put his foot down, but he's going to play along tomorrow so that he can bring Brooklynne to Grey Manor and finally introduce her to everyone in person. He plans to cancel with Leila when he drops Brooklynne back off at home. She's been asking about Ana and me non-stop. I wouldn't put it past her to try and get in the party, so make sure everyone knows what she looks like, although I wouldn't be surprised if she showed up in a wig. Just stick with Ana's protocols and we shouldn't have any problems." I nod to the team dismissing them. "Taylor we'll be leaving in fifteen. I need to speak with Andrea before we go."

He takes his leave with Sawyer in tow and I'm left standing with Ana. "How you holding up baby?" wrapping my arms around her rubbing her back as she leans her head on my chest, internally, I marvel that this something that was a no go for my entire life until just two months ago.

"I've been better. I wish that I had known about Adam Wade, but I can understand how the flow of information got lost during that week we returned was pandemonium. We've not had a moment to breath(e) in weeks. I thought that maybe we'd finally be able to catch a break after I talked to your father, but it seems like that's impossible. Whatever is happening though, I'm not going to let our plans be derailed. Tonight we were supposed to talk houses. I don't know when we'll be able to do that, so I say that we table it till breakfast tomorrow. Ms. Kelly told us to get her our requirements by Sunday, and give her the week to secure keys so that we can tour properties over the weekend."

"Sounds like a plan to me. Come, you can call Kate from the car." I kiss her lips softly before grabbing her hand and pulling her from my office. She'll need to stop by hers and secure her system before the weekend. While she's doing that I'll stop at Andrea's desk to give her some instructions. She's going to be restless tonight and I hope that I can wear her out instead of calling security to meet her in the gym for a "beatdown".

"I love you Christian." She's smiling genuinely for the first time all afternoon. Maybe sharing the waking nightmares that haunt you with those that love you unconditionally is truly the salve to broken parts of our souls

"I love you too Snow White."


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you all for your patience with my updates. Last week my family and I were on our way home from our first family vacation. I'm hoping that this extra Lemony chapter makes up for it. I mean it's 6600 words alone before the start of this author's note. I want to know, I'm not a bdsm expert, I've never published a book, this story is complete fiction. I try to make everything believable and plausible. Sometimes it might be a little exaggerated to what real life is like. I apologize in advance if I've not done the story the correct justice it deserves.**

 **I had a few messages and reviews telling me that Ana should throw all of her Texas tormenters in jail. If you remember from A Steele Heart, Ana found evidence of Brad Matthews assaulting other girls and turned it in. When she did they finally listened to her and one of the boys, I've never said who, turned the others all in. She didn't find video or pictures of her attack like the other girls, so it was the one boy's testimony that made the others take plea deals where Ana was concerned. However, in an effort to forget, Ana never followed up on any of the boys except Brad Matthews. Her being a minor meant that her identity a victim was protected from everyone involved in the case.**

 **Housekeeping items: My bio is up to date. You'll find the links to my Facebook profile, Steele Heart, and my Pinterest boards. There is an updated Steele Love board up now. My bio also lists my posting schedule. I try to stick to it pretty well. School starts in 10 days for my kids and I'm hoping I might be able to sneak in a bonus chapter here and there of each story. You're always free to message me, I try to respond to each one as soon as I can. If you leave a guest review though, I can't reply to you. I also delete derogatory and bullying guest reviews. If you want to call me names, leave yours so that I can reply, otherwise I'll delete your cowardly comments.**

 **Thanks to my amazing Beta, Gate Park. She cranked out this chapter behind me when we had an amazing TV night last night. My stories wouldn't be half as good if it weren't for her. Sometimes I feel like I ask too much of her. So, thank you girl. I appreciate everything you do for me and these stories, and I love our BB talks and when you let me bounce my plot ideas off of you.**

 **As always, I don't own FSOG.**

 **Laters,**

A Steele Love

Chapter 4

Ana's POV

"Thanks Kate. I completely understand. Tell your brother I said Hi." I hang up the phone having called Kate from the car as we headed home.

"Everything Okay?" Christian hasn't let go of my hand since we got in the car.

I answer him as his thumb skims across the back of my hand. "Yeah, her brother, Ethan is in from New York till Sunday. She has an obligatory family dinner tonight at her parent's house. She says she'll talk to me for a few minutes at the party Sunday, otherwise whatever it is will have to wait until she meets me in the office on Monday. Hannah has her scheduled to come in from 1-3pm so that we can outline the book. We need that done and sent to SIP by Wednesday afternoon and she's panicking a bit over it." I try to smile, but the thought of writing a "tell all" book right now is enough to make me nauseous.

"I'm sure she sees this as the make it or break it moment of her career. When did you decide that you were going to go with SIP?" I forgot I hadn't told him. I actually need to talk to Roach this weekend and lay out my demands before I sign with them.

"I decided while I was having lunch with your mother and Mia. I'm waiting for my in depth background check to come back in on the editor that I had to meet with last week. There is something about that guy that rubs me completely the wrong way. I have his work timeline, and I'm hoping that the Chief Editor will let me work with someone else. Jack Hyde seems to know what he is doing, but he can't be the only one that can do it. That man gives both me and Kate both the creeps. I keep getting this feeling like I know him from somewhere, and he seems overly interested in our relationship. He wanted Kate and me to include more background on you and why your company hired me in addition to more of our personal relationship, but I refused that one. Still Seattle Independent Press seemed like the best fit. I don't want to be famous. But, I understand I have a story that people want to know more about, and that story is supposed to focus on the ways I helped to keep this country and others around the globe safe. He wanted codenames and mission titles. He wants specifics that I can't give him and when given that reminder, his eyes flash with anger quickly, then masks it in such a sweetly way. After the first meeting, I refused to be with him alone. Sawyer sits in with me at all times, and I make sure to wear my wired necklace. Jerry Roach will need to assign me a new Editor by the end of the day Monday or I'll call Random House back." I shiver just thinking of the way Hyde devoured me with his eyes the first time we met two weeks ago. I made the mistake of having him meet me in one of the meeting rooms on the third floor of GEH. He damn near demanded I give him a tour of the entire building, especially the security and executive offices. I wrote it off as being curious, but he was relentless. I had to make up a fake meeting to get him to concede. After that, I made sure our meetings were at SIP's offices and Sawyer accompanied me into each one of them.

"Baby, why didn't you tell me about this Hyde guy?" He knows why I didn't tell him, he just wants me to say it. I can see the aggressive possessiveness settling into his eyes, going from their usual silver grey to their darkened stormy grey. His eyes always tell me what he's feeling.

"You know exactly why I didn't tell you. I don't need "macho man" swooping in and making things better for me. I've told you this before. You can't make unilateral decisions. Don't even try and hide the fact that you sent Ros to SIP last week to approach Roach about a buyout. Remember, I'm your Chief of Security. Even if you have Griffin running the background checks on the company and its employees, I still get the reports of what they've done at the end of each week." He thought he was being slick, but I made sure that there will be no more mishaps like GEH had with Welch and Rodriguez again. The redundancy of having an extra set of eyes reviewing security protocols is an indispensable tool that although I was employed to look for areas we need improvement in, it seems like it has come in handy to rein in boyfriends with more money than sense.)

"I sometimes forget that you're not just my girlfriend." He lifts my hand to his lips and proceeds to kiss a line up my arm until he reaches my shoulder. "I won't ever apologize for wanting to protect you. I don't carry a gun." He kisses my neck next and the goosebumps begin to rise. "I'm not a martial arts master. You can protect yourself against a physical threat better than half our personal security team. But buying SIP lets me safeguard you there. I can ensure that this book is handled with the utmost care. I can make sure that you are respected and protected. Please don't be mad at me for this." Each of his words is followed by a kiss, a gentle caress. It started at my neck, then that spot behind my ear, my jawline, my chin, my cheek, he even kissed my nose. Now his mouth is mere millimeters away from mine and I can only stare at those lips. I want them on mine. I want him to kiss me senseless tonight, and suddenly I feel like taking my pent-up aggression out on him. Forget pummeling Ryan tonight, he can live another day.

I attack Christian's lips. I grab his face with my right hand, my thumb under his chin and my fingers splayed across his cheek. I'm holding him in place and totally dominating this kiss. My left arm is wrapped around his neck, fingers buried in his unruly copper locks. He wraps his arms around my waist anchoring me to him. One hand sliding up my back and into my hair. I pull on his hair and he gasps allowing me entry to his mouth. I dart my tongue in, just a small taste, and I can taste the lingering brandy he must have had while I was talking to my father. His tongue wrestles with mine, seeking to take control, but I can't allow that right now. I need this and he's the only one that can give it to me. I seek shelter in this kiss. I seek control where I know I really have none. I'm beginning to feel breathless but I'm not ready to let go. I want him feral; I want him feeling the loss of control that I feel. I want him to understand what I feel. Only then when he seeks his solace in me will I relinquish control to him again.

I pull away from his lips dragging my tongue along his jaw, feeling his stubbled growth along the way, straight to lick the outer shell of his ear. "I want you hard for me all night. I want you to sit on the couch while we talk with my father, and know what will come tonight. I want you to think of how you will come tonight, because you will, but not before me." I run my hand down from his jaw to his chest and then his abdomen. I can feel his muscles flex under my touch. When I reach the crotch of his pants, I rub his erection through his expensive suit, feeling how he's pressed against his zipper. "I want you to stay this way all night. This belongs to me. I belong to you. I love you and I love that you do so much to take care of me. I'm not mad at you, but I need you too, Christian. Understand one thing; we are equal partners in this relationship. At GEH you are the boss, but you really shouldn't buy a business based on who you're fucking."

He pulls back quickly from my hold and releases me. We are on opposite sides of the car now and I can feel the distance growing between us. His eyes have gone from their steel grey of desire to their stormy grey of anger. "You think that's what this is. That we're just fucking. I love you Ana, and I've told you when the time is right, I'm going to marry you. Buying SIP was not a decision I made based on who I was fucking." He is cold and hard as he spits those last few words at me. The growl that erupts from him as he fists his hands in his hair shows just how truly angered and frustrated he is. "When it comes to my business I answer to no one. I don't have a board of directors for a reason. I make all final decisions. No one else. I have never let outside forces sway me in what I do with my company. With the exception of Elena and the salons, I have never let one of my subsidiaries touch my personal life. I didn't do this because we are fucking. If that's what you think we're doing then I'm sorry. I thought you knew how much I loved you."

I can hear the hurt and defeat with his last confession and I'm devastated. I hurt his feelings with that and I didn't mean to. "Christian I know that you love me. I didn't exactly mean it that way. It's just that, damn it." I pause to gather my thoughts. My plans for the night seem to be evaporating before my eyes. I have to make this right with him. "I'm sorry. I know that it's more with us. I know that you were trying to ensure I was safe. I didn't mean to offend you. I know that you are good at what you do, the best even. On some level, I know you would only buy SIP if it was a company that you could use to make a profit for GEH and diversify your company's portfolio. Please Christian, I love you." I try to keep the tears at bay. I hate that I hurt him, and I hate how vulnerable I feel in this moment. We're pulling into the garage under Escala when I feel him reach across the seat to hold my hand. He doesn't look at me, just holds my hand.

Sawyer opens the door to let Christian and me out near the elevator before he heads to the service elevator while Taylor goes to park the car. Christian guides me into the elevator with his hand on my back. I still feel a little apprehensive, thinking he's still upset with me. When the doors close he punches in the code that will take the elevator straight to our penthouse apartment. He waits only moments before he spins me and pins me to the side of the elevator. "You were never just a fuck to me. Not even on that first night I met you." His words ghost over me and I'm a slave to him. I wanted him feral and he is. I feel his hand slide down my side of my shirt, stopping on the front of my waist. "Always packing heat Miss Steele." He presses his hand to my corset holster feeling my beloved Punisher. He continues his path down and his hand slips under my shirt, reaching for the buttons of my slacks. "I love you in your office clothes Ana, but I hate not having access to you. I'm going to make you come in this elevator, and then you are going to walk into our home and visit with you father like nothing happened."

I feel the button snap and then the zipper is lowered. His hand is in my lace panties and then his fingers are sliding over my folds. I'm drenched, desire causing me to widen my stance while I pray that I don't leave a stain on my pants before I see my dad. "This is not fucking." His voice is forceful and I want his lips on mine. Two fingers slide into my core his thumb pressing on my clit. "Always so ready for me Anastasia." He proceeds to fuck me with his fingers. The whole time his hands slides back and forth, his eyes never leave mine. "I love you." I feel my orgasm building as his thumb keeps pressure on my clit. It's not moving, just pressing and causing an ache like no other.

"Please Christian." He's reduced me to begging and he knows that I am his. "I love you."

He pounds his fingers faster in me, keeping the pressure on my clit, when he leans into my ear, "Come for me Anastasia." I tighten and then I explode around his fingers. No one else has ever done this to me, for me, and no one else ever will. I'm so in love with this man.

"It's never just fucking, even when we're like this; I'm still making love to you. Only you. I've only ever made love to you. You touch me where no one else has ever been able to." He presses his fore head to mine as he removes his hand, brushing his fingers over my lips coating them in my essence. I watch as he slips his fingers into his mouth. "You always taste so divine. I love you Snow White." He slips his hands back down to do up my pants. Slipping my hands around his neck, I feel all the love he has for me. This man is my heart and soul and I don't know how I lived my life without him before we met. I was a lonely nerd who was friendlier with machines and computers. I lived for the thrill of an assignment. I loved the undercover work and where it could take me. But the thought of Finn calling me up again with an assignment that could take me away from Christian makes me feel physically sick.

"I love you my prince. I know that you love me and I know it's not just fucking. I'm sorry." He places a chaste kiss to my lips.

"You're forgiven." He pulls pack and straightens my shirt, picks my bag up from the ground and hands it to me just as the elevator arrives at the penthouse. We exit, ready to face my father and whatever he may be feeling after I confessed my life in Texas to him. "It'll be okay. He loves you. Let him feel his anger, then let him know that you overcame it. Let him know that it was because he was there when you needed him, that he helped you find the strength the put the demons to rest. It was him that showed you how to channel your anger and you're a success because of that, because of him."

Christian is right, now I have to make sure my father knows. There were circumstances out of both of our control at the time that didn't allow him to protect me. However, he was there when I needed him with what I needed at the time to heal.

Christian's POV

When we entered the penthouse, Ana immediately made her way to the kitchen for a glass of wine. Her father was in there talking with Gail and informed us that he was eating with Gail and Taylor tonight and sleeping in the security wing, since he and Taylor were going fishing in the morning. They'll be back mid-afternoon so that they can accompany us to my parents' house.

"Ana, you ready to turn in baby." We ate our alfredo at the breakfast bar tonight and Ana has been quiet all evening.

"Can we take a bath? I need to relax. Dad barely looked at me before he headed off to Gail and Jason's wing of the apartment. I want to wash this day off of me." She looks defeated. I finally understand why she didn't want to tell anyone about Texas. She didn't want to be seen differently. Her father could barely look at her when we got home and he plans to spend as little time as possible with her tomorrow. Hopefully Taylor can get him out of his head. My Snow White will not be okay if her father can't see her as the same strong woman that she was twelve hours ago to him.

"Why don't you clear the dishes away and I'll go run us a bath. Meet me by the tub when you're done." I kiss her cheek and head to our en suite. I'll light candles and add her favorite jasmine oil. I'll get her nice and relaxed while I work her up in the tub. Then I'm taking her to bed and making her forget this day. Just like her father, she needs to get out of her own head and not wallow in her self-loathing and pity. I plan to make her forget all night long. Ana and I have only brushed the edge of what I can do when it comes to dominating her body and commanding it. I plan to push her further tonight, starting with the newest items I ordered just for her last week.

"It smells wonderful in here." She enters the bathroom and looks around at what I've done for her.

"Come here baby. Let me undress you. Did you put your gun away already?" She usually excuses herself to her office on the second floor to put it away when we come home from work. Tonight however, we never left the kitchen.

"Yeah I went and locked him away and stopped to ensure that Johnson had the cameras covered tonight." She starts to untie the side tie on her red shirt but I move her hand to do it myself.

"You aren't supposed to worry about the personal security. Taylor will have taken care of everything. Griffin will get you the information you need. Until then, you leave these matters for Taylor. Sawyer and Ryan will be here in the morning when he leaves. We'll be just fine. We're going to spend the morning looking at the preliminary information Miss Kelly sent us and then create our must have and don't want list. We can spend the afternoon at the range and work off some of that aggression. You've not taken me there in a few weeks. As much as I hate guns, knowing how to handle them makes me feel more at ease about you carrying yours so much. Plus, it's a massive turn on watching you handle your gun. You're a female version of James Bond." I push the shirt off her shoulders and onto the floor the minute the wrap is undone. Moving to her zipper I slowly lower it, teasing her. Moving my hands around her back, I grab her ass cheeks from inside her pants and feel the lace of her panties under my hands. The red lace of her structured bra leaves little to the imagination. But this isn't a fantasy, reaching up, I easily unclasp it allowing it to slip down so I can see her hardened nipples and I lower my mouth taking first the right and then the left in my mouth. Drawing the nipple in, sucking gently for a moment and then baring my teeth and nipping at it. I sooth the ache with my tongue moving back and forth between the two

"Christian." She whispers my name as she threads her hands through my hair.

"Soon baby. Let's get you out of the rest of these clothes and into the tub." I drop to my knees in front of her grabbing the sides of her pant and pulling them down. It's then that I notice she had already taken her heels off. "You are perfection Snow White." I look up at her before me in only her sheer lace panties and I can see the desire in her eyes. The ice blue having darkened to a blue reminding me of the sea around the islands we visited in the Maldives. "I love you Ana."

I kiss her right at the apex of her thighs through the thinnest lace I've ever seen. Hooking my fingers into the side of her panties I slowly lower them, revealing her to me. I kiss her once again at the center of her core before rising from my knees. "Let's get clean so that we can dirty again." I take her hand and help her into the tub, disrobing and climbing in behind her and lowering myself, settling with her back to my front.

"This is what I needed. It's the perfect temperature and I love when you add that jasmine oil. Wherever Gail found it, you should buy them out."

"Ana you're rambling. Close your eyes." I wait a moment before I grab her shoulders massaging with firm and circular strokes. Her legs are settled between mine, and I hook my feet over her legs and spread them, locking her in place. Running my hands down her front, I feel the heaviness of her breast. I caress her gently, avoiding the nipples I know she wants me to grasp. Massaging her breasts, I move my hands down to the junction of her thighs. Both hands caress the inside of her thighs, still avoiding where I know she wants my hands most. I know that she can feel my hardened erection behind her. She's squirming and I know she's putty in my hands.

"I will worship you till the end of my days Anastasia. Don't ever doubt that, and don't ever try and diminish the depth of my love for you by insinuating that all you are, is the woman I fuck." I try and keep a light and calm tone in my voice. I don't want her to know just how hurt I was by her words from earlier. I wanted to propose to her under the Northern Lights in October, but I might need to move up the date and think of an equally spectacular alternative for her to truly understand I'm only happy, alive and my true self when she is by my side.

"I promise I won't ever do that again. I'm sorry Christian." She tries to twist around to see me, but my grip on her prevents it from happening.

"Stay still. I'm going to drive you to the edge like you did me in the car. Then I'm going to take you into our bedroom and show you what you do to me." I slip a finger into her folds and into her hot channel. She grips me from the inside the moment she feels me. I add a second finger twisting them not pulling out. I silence her whimpers, "Hush now princess."

I slowly pull my fingers out and slam them back into her, just like I plan to do with my cock tonight. "Yes. Feel it baby. I only do this with you. I've only ever done this with you. It will only ever be you." I continue my rhythm, twisting my two fingers as they move in and out of her. I use my other hand to move up her torso and take a nipple between my thumb and forefinger.

Ana's arching her back and moaning, squeezing me every time my fingers move inside of her. She's close, but not close enough, trying to close her thighs but I have them pinned open. "Please Christian." "Just a little more baby." I roll her nipple and pinch just as I press my thumb to her clit.

"Don't you dare come yet Snow White. Hold it for me." She groans with frustration. I need to work her higher before she breaks open. I increase my pace and stroke my thumb across her clit. She's squeezing me tighter and tighter. She's so close.

"I can't hold it much longer Christian. Please let me come." She continues to whisper her pleas to let her come, thrashing her head from side to side, but I wait still.

Squeezing her nipple a little harder, I whisper into her ear, "Come for me Snow White." She clenches around my fingers and shatters spectacularly. I can't move my fingers she's squeezing so tight. I keep her legs pinned open and she arches her back even more.

"CCCCCCHHHHHRRRRISSSTTTTTIAAAAANNNNNNNNN!" She screams my name, and I'm so thankful for the soundproofing in our room.

I kiss her head over and over, and nuzzle her neck as she comes back down to earth. I give her a moment before I release her legs and help her from the tub. Grabbing a couple of towels from the warmer, I dry Ana first and then myself. Reaching for her hand, I lead her into the bedroom to continue my display of dominance over her body.

Ana's POV

I can't believe the orgasm I just had. Christian barely touched my body, but it was explosive. He usually touches me everywhere. Even when it's a quickie in one of our offices or against a random wall. He still touches me everywhere that he can. He was different in the tub, and yet I could still feel his love for me.

"Christian." I'm not sure what I want to say, but I need to say something. I need him to know I'm sorry. I need him to know that I know this is more than fucking. I know that this is real between us.

Brushing my hair back from my face, he brushes his knuckles across my cheek. "I know Ana. I know. Now lay down on the bed." He leaves me and goes to our closet. I stare after and wonder what he's doing, but I get up on the bed and lay down like he commanded. I don't know what he has planned, but I'm going to give this to him. I want him to know that he is my everything.

When he reenters, he stops by the door to our bedroom to check that I locked it behind us. I can't see what he has behind him but I know that he has something planned.

"Ana this is going to be intense tonight. I'm going to push you more than I ever have. If it gets too much you just say stop and I will stop. If I do something you don't like you say stop and I will stop. Okay?" He stares at me his smoky grey eyes intense with his desire.

"I trust you Christian." I watch his pupils dilate.

"I'm going to blindfold you first Snow White. Then I'm going to spank you. There is a fine line between pleasure and pain and we've only danced along that line. I want your skin to sing tonight. I want to touch every inch of you before you come. Now stand up." I move to stand by the side of the bed where he is indicating. It's then that I notice my silk scarves in his hands. Using my favorite grey scarf, he covers my eyes plunging me into darkness. "It's not too tight is it?"

"No." Before I can say much else, I am pulled down over his lap. I am bent at the waist with the upper half of my body leaning over the bed, and I have to stand on my tiptoes to keep my balance.

"Put your hands behind your back, gripping your elbows." He binds my arms then, and then brushes my hair back from my face. "This is a sensual spanking Ana, but it will be more intense than what you are you use to." Before I can say anything, I feel his hand lift from my ass and then land with a loud smack. Shit, that actually hurt. I take a deep breath and wait for the next one. I don't have to wait much longer as it lands on the opposite cheek.

I hadn't realized I was whimpering until he soothes me, "Hush. If it's too much for you tell me." I only nod my head and bite my lip. He starts to rain blows across my cheeks and the tops of my thighs, a place he's never touched when spanking me. I silently count each one as he never pauses. The longer he is at it, the more I realize it's not as painful as I thought. In fact, I can feel my arousal dripping down toward my knees. I count to twenty before he stops and rubs both hands over my cheeks, setting my stinging skin afire. I feel the heat spread out and course though my entire body.

"You did marvelously Ana. Stand up." I am able to lift myself up as he helps me up. He undoes the binding on my arms and massages them before ordering me back to the bed. "Hands above your head." When I agreed to move in, Christian ordered a new slatted wooden headboard he had designed specifically for nights like tonight.

I lift my hands above me and he makes quick work to spread them, tying a hand to each corner of the headboard. I feel him travel down my body, kissing and sucking his way toward my core. My body arches toward his mouth and when he skips over the part I most want him at; I have to bite back a groan. He clasps a hand first around my right ankle and ties an end of one of the scarfs around it, then bending my leg before he secures my ankle to my thigh. Christian proceeds to do the same to the left ankle and thigh. With my feet flat on the bed, myentire nether regions are displayed for his viewing pleasure. I try to close my knees, but can only move so far, leaving me completely exposed no matter what I do. "I think you need to cool off a bit before we continue. You're looking a little flushed Anastasia."

I feel him lift himself from the bed and I listen as his footsteps recede to the farthest corners of the room. I hear rustling and then I hear the lock of the door and he exits the room leaving me tied to the bed and spread open for anyone to see should they enter our bedroom. I don't know how long he leaves me here, but I can feel my anxiety start to set in, this is bringing back horrific memories that I don't want to enter into our intimate space. I consciously remind myself that I'm an adult now, this is about exploring and testing the limits of my sexual desires with a partner that loves me. I am safe. Repeating those words, calming myself so that the only anxiety I now feel is anticipation of what Christian has instore. Eventually he comes back in and I hear the lock being engaged once again as the door closes. I hear him set something on the nightstand next to the bed.

I feel his hand on my chin and he pulls my lip from between my teeth. I open my mouth to say something his lips are on me before I can speak. He pushes a piece of ice into my mouth with his tongue and I instantly understand what he meant when he said I needed to cool off. He swirls his tongue around causing the ice to melt in my mouth. Before I can protest his lips are ripped from mine. I hear clinking next to me and I can only assume he is taking another piece of ice from the glass. I wait wondering where I will feel it. I am surprised though when he places it at my left wrist and travels down my arm with it, leaving a melting cold steak in its path. When he reaches my shoulder, he moves it around the base of my neck until it is melted. He repeats the same pattern on my right arm.

Next I feel the ice at my ankle. It travels up toward my knee and back toward my aching sex. Just when I think I know what he's going to do, he surprises me and moves the ice across my hip and toward my belly button, leaving the ice there to create a cold pool of liquid. "Don't move. We wouldn't want you to spill that and mess up the sheets baby." His voice is husky and laced with desire and it only ratchets my own desire up another notch, as if I wasn't a dripping faucet already. He follows the same path on my left leg, leaving the ice in my belly button once again.

I wait wondering where he's going next and I'm shocked when I feel the ice gliding along my crack. Up and down until he reached my puckered opening. He holds there letting it melt before he pushes it in. We've played a couple times with anal but it was never more than a well lubricated pinky. The sensation is burning, in complete opposite of the ice itself. It is not painful, in fact it's causing immense pleasure and I groan as I try to arch myself up off the bed and toward him. "Still Anastasia." His voice is gruff.

I feel more ice, this time on my nipples. He is holding a piece to each of them unmoving. The ice takes longer to melt and eventually he drags the pieces from my nipples and circles around my breast, in opposition of each side. He brings the ice back to the nipple and holds it until the ice is completely gone. I feel his breath blowing gently over my skin and it makes the path left by the ice even colder. Moaning, I arch my back once again and then I feel his lips to my right nipple first, covering me in the warmth of his mouth. His tongue laves at my peak before biting down on the tip. I scream and next thing I know I'm coming. What the Fuck!?

"So responsive Anastasia. I love the control I have over your body like this." I feel weak after that explosion and I'm waiting to feel what he's going to do next.

"Christian, I need you inside me. Please." I need to feel him filling me. I need it more than my next breath.

"Not yet princess. Soon though." I feel him slip off the bed and I wait mere moments before I hear the whoosh though the air. I feel the fringe of the leather flogger hit my breast and I'm once again a moaning mess. My body is a slave to its master and I love it.

He continues a pattern across my breast and torso, never hitting the same spot twice or with the same force with each strike. There is no predictable pattern, and not being able to see him is making it more intense. We've never played this long, and it's never felt this powerful. This is a glimpse of the man that he once was. This is a side of him that I've only longed to see.

"Your skin is such a lovely shade of pink, only heightened by your blush baby." I listen to each word as it falls from his mouth; I feel each bite of the flogger as it falls against my skin. I'm so close to reaching my peak for the fourth time tonight and he hasn't physically touched me this time. It only takes one well-placed slap of the fringe to my clit and I'm falling once again.

Before I come back to earth he slams home into my soaking core. "You are beauty personified Ana. I love you." He thrusts into me at a punishing pace and I find myself climbing yet again. I didn't think it was possible but it appears I'm going to come for a fifth time. He grunts as he pushes himself in and out of me. His thick cock impaling me with each stroke, hitting that spot that drives me crazy with my own frenzied craving of more, deeper, harder. I couldn't hold my screams back even if I tried or wanted to. I'm begging for mercy and he continues pushing me closer and closer to the edge.

I feel his hand move (between us) to my clit and his thumb moves across me bringing quickly to that fifth climax. "Come for me Anastasia. Show me who you belong to." He fuses his lips to mine in a punishing kiss, stealing my breath as I scream my climax into his mouth.

He thrusts only two more times before he stills and his muscles tighten. I feel him pulse, releasing his orgasm inside of me. "Anastasia." My name falls from his lips, whispered almost in benediction.

Christian presses his forehead to mine before he pulls out. He gets off the bed and I hear him walk toward the bathroom. I hear the water running and then his footsteps after the faucet is turned off. He places a warm wet rag between my legs cleaning me of the evidence of our mixed orgasms. I wait as he removed the scarfs from my legs and ankles and then my arms. He leaves the blindfold in place as he circles around the bed in order to massage my extremities to release the tension in my muscles. I feel the bed dip as he climbs back on the bed settling himself between my legs before he removes the blindfold.

"You are perfect Ana. I love you more than words could ever express." I blink at him and it's only when he brushes his thumb across my cheek that I realize I was crying during the last orgasm. "You are perfect." He places a small kiss to my lips, but that kiss tells me everything. I wrap my arms around his back and bury my face in his neck.

"I love you Christian." It's all I say and I just hold him feeling his weight atop me. I don't know how long he stays there before he rolls off me and pulls me to his side, but it's not enough time, I don't believe that there will ever be enough time to satisfy our hunger for each other. I can never get my fill of the closeness I experience with him and all of our kinky fuckery.

"Sleep Ana. It's after midnight. We'll talk more tomorrow." I place my head on his chest, and my hand on his heart, a place that has never been off limits to me, where no one else has ever touched. I realize, Christian is my happily ever after, and if I have to propose to the man, I will. He is my forever and I will prove to him how much I love him. I only hope that he allows me to retain my separate individuality while I continue to love him. The move to buy SIP could prove to be a bigger strain on our relationship and I hope that it doesn't blow up in our faces.


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: Another Monday, another chapter. Next week is Ana's first trip back to Grey Manor since Brunch-gate. We'll get to meet Elliot's daughter Brooklynne, and it's going to be tension filled in only the way a dinner with the Greys can be. After that it's Christian's birthday and that will take two chapters.**

 **Thank you all for the reviews, I love hearing from you and reading your theories. Never hesitate to tell me what you think. I keep writing because of your encouragement.**

 **Gate Park is the best Beta. She sent this back to me after one this morning. That's how amazing she is, knowing it was posting day today, she cranked it out and back to me.**

 **Check my bio. Links to Facebook and Pinterest, including the posting schedule.**

 **I need your help. I'm working a plot bunny for next month. Submissive Beginning will be ending in a few weeks, and I've got a new story I want to start posting the end of next month. What I need to find though, is stories where Christian is a detective/police officer. I just want to make sure I'm writing something not really out there yet. That's all the plot you get. No CEO Christian.**

 **As always, I don't own FSOG.**

 **Laters**

A Steele Love

Chapter 5

Ray's POV

Saturday, June 17, 2017

"You had better pull your head out of your ass before we get back to the apartment. I mean no disrespect Colonel, but you were cold and standoffish to your own daughter last night. A woman, who in my opinion, is stronger and whole because you were what she needed after her attack." I listen to Taylor as I cast my rod from the boat.

"I just can't believe that she never told me. I can't believe that no one believed her. I am furious that Carla didn't know even know that she wasn't home for _two fucking days_. And another thing, I'm damn near murderous when I think about that Morton fucker. What he did to Ana was psychological and mental abuse. Locking her in a room with no light." I can't imagine what she must have gone through. To be locked in that room for days with no capacity for time, never knowing what they would do to her next. The sheer agony of being trapped, helpless and not knowing when and how it would end, there are some trained marines that can't handle that. However, my little girl did.

"Ray, you've got to realize, she didn't think anyone would really believe her. No one had so far. So, she bided her time and got out of there. She came straight to you. You helped her. You are why she is so strong, but so help me, I will knock your ass flat out if you are the reason she crumbles. She clings to her bond with you. She has always been her father's daughter. Don't push her away again." He's right. She did everything she could to please everyone around her when she moved back. I never realized anything was wrong. "I remember the little girl who followed her daddy around to formations whenever she could. She even had her own spot at the planning table. Do you know another girl who could get her father to pause for five minutes in his dress uniform to play tea party with him before he attends a funeral?" I remember that day fondly. I hated coming back from a mission in the Panama needing to bury one of my men, but she kept me from crumbling that day.

"She had been home about a month when she woke up screaming in the middle of the night. She blamed it on a horror movie she'd watched before she went to bed. I never thought about it again. But now I realize, she has never watched horror movies. She'll watch superheroes and sci-fi flicks all day long. She'll watch those boring English novel remakes, but she won't watch a scary movie. She was ten and I tried to get her to watch the original Halloween movie. She wanted to know why no one ever just shot Michael Meyers between the eyes. She decided it was pointless to watch them after that. They never really scared her. So why would she have had a nightmare then?" I should have paid more attention to her back then; it was my last year in command before I took retirement and moved over to the Naval Criminal Investigative Services. I remember I didn't want to risk deployments anymore. I wanted a guarantee that I could be home for her when she needed me.

"Yeah Ana likes her Comic Book Movies. You know Ryan dropped one of her framed comics when we were setting up her office and broke the glass and frame. A piece of the glass scratched the cover, so she spent two hours pummeling his ass. Guy had a black eye and winced every time he laughed for nearly a week. She's tough like that because of you." I smile because I remember Ana calling and screaming about that comic book. She had needed to know where I ordered the frames from so she could replace the broken one. I had gifted her the set for Christmas three years ago.

"She came to me a week after that nightmare asking if she could come with me to a combative training class I was instructing. She had several months of free time on her hands before she started school during the spring semester. She spent her days in the gym. There was always a marine willing to be her punching bag. I eventually found a female Gunnery Sergeant who took her under her wings. She had Ana up each morning running with us during physical training. She taught Ana how to punch a bag properly and use her size to her advantage. Ana came to the range with me every weekend and perfected her aim." I remember the look on her face when I gave her that gun for her 21st birthday. I didn't know it, but by that time she was already an agent for the CIA.

"Ana and I talk a lot Ray. I didn't know what happened in Texas, but I knew it was bad. I was happy yesterday finally hearing, that it wasn't worse than what my mind had imagined it was. That girl of yours could have been a mess. She could have broken, but she found a way to come back stronger. That was because of you. You love her, fiercely, and that was what she needed. Her coping mechanism she developed for her own sanity at the time, she needed someone that didn't treat her like a pariah, nor did she want to be coddled. She's still that way. That and the fact that Christian signs my paychecks are the only reasons that I haven't laid Carrick Grey out. Ana would take my ass down if I did anything."

Chuckling I look at Taylor over my shoulder on the other side of the boat. "Well Christian doesn't sign my paycheck."

Taylor shakes his head looking at his watch, "You can head toward Bellevue in a couple hours. You'll have plenty of time to "talk" with Carrick and still talk to Ana before dinner with the Grey clan tonight. Word to the wise, if you leave a bruise visible outside of his suit for Christian's birthday party, she's gonna put me on my ass. I've already instructed Reynolds to leave one of the spare cars at the marina for you. Plausible deniability or she will try to knock me out. I don't think she's ever going to forgive me for calling her little that day on the range when she was eight."

"I don't know. She seems to have forgiven Sawyer, but then again he has to sit with her at every hair and nail appointment and I know she had a special kind of fun shopping with Kate last week with him in tow." Ana laughed her ass off telling me how she made him sit in the middle of the lingerie boutique holding their purses, while Prescott watched the door.

"She forgave Luke because he cowers to her a bit now. Luke is like her little puppy dog most days. It's funny to watch." Taylor knows Ana well. I love my daughter, she's no push over. She's usually the one doing the pushing.

"How's she managing with the constant security? That was one of the things I worried most about her when she told me she was moving in with Christian. I feared she would rebel against the security considering her job." I was secretly thankful for them though. I sleep easier, since knowing her true work with the government, with her surrounded by two or three security guys at all times.

"Ana makes sure everyone knows that they are her back-up. She can handle herself in almost all situations, until she is ganged up on. She knows her limitations, so she doesn't fight it much. She hates having Sawyer stationed on her floor every day during the work day, but she doesn't bitch about it much anymore. We leave the security of GEH to her, and she leaves the personal security to me. It's the understanding we came to shortly after the "Great Brunch Reveal"." I'm going to kick Carrick Grey's ass.

"Enough talking, you're scaring the fish." I silence Taylor, and focus on the water. Thoughts of my daughter and what I needed to say to her swirling in my mind. I will need to make up for my behavior after I've had little time with Christian's father.

Christian's POV

"I like this one with the indoor pool. It's not necessary but it's a plus." We've been pouring over the listings, my real estate agent, Miss Olga Kelly sent us since nine this morning.

"Okay, you like the indoor pool, if there isn't one, you would like to have the space to put one in?" I nod at her as she scribbles more notes on her yellow pad.

"Baby, we've been at this nearly an hour. Let me grab us some more water." I kiss the top of her head as I head to the kitchen. I notice some croissants left under Gail's pastry dome on the counter. Grabbing a plate from the cabinet I grab two croissants and our water bottles and head back to the dining table where we have set up shop. Placing the plate on the table between our chairs, I pull the flyer for the house on Mercer Island.

"I like that this house has the six acres. I like the room to move. The house is back off the road, not visible from the gates. But we would have to build a staff house and a larger garage." The house on Mercer Island is ideal for a family home. However, it doesn't provide the space needed for security and staff.

I watch Ana study the photos closely before shaking her head. "There are too many people that have access to the lake nearby. It's a security nightmare unless we build a wall around the whole property. The point of waterfront property is that we can walk to the water without restriction. We need something a little more security minded logistically. However, have you looked at the listing at Hunts Point?" Ana passes me a set of papers and I look over the details before I check out the pictures.

Reading the brochure aloud, "Twelve acres, private drive, gated. The closest home with a dock is in Kirkland. It's pretty close to mom and dad as well. There is already a separate two-story guest house with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. There is a detached six car garage as well as an attached three car garage. Indoor and outdoor pools with a sauna that seats ten and a full summer kitchen complete with top of the line grill and pizza oven. Home gym, theatre room, catering kitchen as well as a private kitchen. Eight bedrooms, eleven full bathrooms plus a powder room just inside the foyer. Library, study, family room, sitting room, formal dining room as well as an eat-in kitchen. It says here there is a laundry room large enough two house two sets of washing and drying machines." I flip to the photos and I am taken aback. I wonder if I can get Miss Kelly to let me see this house tomorrow afternoon. I want it. I don't want to chance someone else getting it.

"I emailed Miss Kelly while you were in the kitchen. We can see it tomorrow at 2 pm. I thought we might go eat lunch and then go see it before coming back to get ready for the party. The house technically doesn't go on the market until Monday. If we like it, we can make on offer tomorrow, negotiate the terms and execute the contract quickly before anyone else has a chance to see it. I see a few changes that must be done, and I want to build a whole separate housing wing for security as well." I grab Ana, wrapping my hands around both sides of her face and pull her to me for a scorching kiss.

When I let her come up for air her smile zaps me right in the heart. "I love you Snow White."

"I love you too my prince. Now what was that all about?" She tilts her head a little and I know that she's trying to read me. It's her one "tells" with me.

"You found the perfect place. Why do you want to build a security wing though? What's wrong with the guest house?" I don't see the need for an additional security wing if we use the guest house.

"Because, if we are fortunate enough to get this property, then I'd want us to utilize the guest house for Jason and Gail. If they have separate quarters, MaryAnn can't complain about Sophie staying with them anymore. Gail deserves her own little oasis that she can decorate and do with as she sees fit. I would also want to knock down the wall for the guest room in the basement and expand the gym. We'd need more room for sparing. I don't like the light oak for the kitchen cabinets or the burnt orange vein of the granite backsplash. So, I'd like to gut the cabinets and counters but keep the center island. From the photos, the layout looks wonderful to do food prep and cook either gourmet or mac and cheese." Her eyes sparkling like light refracting through a prism at the mere thought of envisioning us in this property. "The patio should be extended so that we can entertain more for casual family get-togethers. I see that we ought to rework the study. It's quite large and abutting the smallest bedroom. I think if we were to knock down the connecting wall we could create his and her offices. The security wing, should be adjacent to the study so that we can access the security offices easily. Jason can take over logistics for security. I say we look at it, and if it's as great as the description and the photos show, we get Elliot out there by the end of the week to draw up plans." This woman amazes me.

I brush her hair back from her face, tucking few strands behind her ear, "You are everything to me Ana. I can't wait to build our home together." I clasp her hand in mine and lift it to my mouth to place a chaste kiss.

"You say the sweetest things. I love you." And now I'm really about to make her swoon.

"I know." Take that fucking Han Solo. Her smile stretches even further and she launches herself at me.

"Christian, you big stud, take me to bed or lose me forever." She tries to keep a straight face, but can't help her giggle as she delivered the "Top Gun" movie line. I lift the two of us from my chair and she wraps her legs around me. With purposeful strides, I head to our bedroom to make sweet love to her. She'll have me forever.

Ray's POV

I spent hours out on that boat with Jason today. It was much needed. It seems like every time we've tried to plan a trip out, there was some security thing that kept him from the water. I was thankful for this time. I needed to hear him defend Ana. She had done nothing wrong, yet I had allowed my rage and anger at what had happened to my little girl seethe below the surface and unfortunately, I had inadvertently taken it out on her last night with my silent treatment. Now I am in one of Christian's many Audis headed toward Bellevue. Reynolds was kind enough to program the Grey's home address into the GPS for me. Taylor told me that Grace was expecting me. She knows what's to come and she doesn't plan to stop me.

The whole way to their home I have time to reflect. All the signs I missed over the years. How could I not see that she was hurting so much when she came home? I see it all now. Even those first few months when she started college that spring. She stayed at home because there was no dorm placement for her; at least that was what she said. I think it might have been a lie though. I think that she didn't want to be in a room with someone she didn't know yet. She filled out with muscle in the year she was home before she moved into the dorms. She was proficient in self-defense and had reassured me at least a dozen times that she would be alright. I think in most normal circumstances, a parent is nervous about dropping their 18-year-old at the dorm to live away from home for the first time, Ana was sixteen. She my 16-year-old, never been on date and now surround by frat boys, daughter. I was nervous enough for the both of us.

I was so thankful she was roomed with Kate. That girl was a spitfire and she brought Ana into the clouds. Annie and Kate are total opposites and it's why they are the best of friends. Even now that they're no longer living together, they go days, sometimes weeks without more than a few texts between the two of them. When they get together though, it's like they have been in contact every day. Kate is good for Annie, and Ana is good for Kate.

Pulling into the drive of the address indicated by the GPS, I am taken aback. I've never seen a home so large, although I know Annie and Christian are starting to house hunt and will likely find one even bigger. I park the car and walk up the stone steps to the dark wood door. I barely get a knock off before the door opens.

"Ray, what a pleasant surprise. To what do we owe this pleasure? I didn't think we would see you until this evening." Oh, Grace Grey is a terrific actor.

"I was wondering if I could have a conversation with you and your husband." I really do want to talk to Grace, because if Christian has his way, these people will be my in-laws before the end of the year.

"Well come on in. We were just about to have some coffee on the patio. Would like a cup?" I follow Grace into her kitchen where she's fixing cups of coffee on a tray.

"I would love a cup. Taylor and I were up at 4 this morning before heading out to the lake to fish." I watch Grace move around her kitchen plating cookies while she waits for the coffee to finish brewing.

"Why so early? Sun didn't rise till near 6:30 this morning." I must have shown my confusion because she answers my unvoiced question. "I was on my way home from being called into the ER on a five-year-old they thought had pneumonia. The poor child actually has leukemia, but the parents being so diligent allowed us to catch it in time. She has a very good prognosis." I watch a wisp of sadness cross Grace's face and it's gone before I can say anything.

She pours coffee into three cups. "Ray, how do you take it?"

"Black ma'am. When you're in a warzone you're lucky to have the coffee beans. You learn to drink it without the sugar and cream." Grace simply nods and the proceeds to add sugar and cream to one cup, and just cream to another. I grab the tray before she can.

"Lead the way Dr. Grey."

"Thank you, Ray, and please call me Grace. Carrick's already outside, so come on. Promise you will remember that tomorrow is Christian's birthday. There will likely be press when we arrive for the party tomorrow."

"I promise Grace." I won't say anymore. The fact that she knows what I want to do and hasn't made me promise to keep my hands to myself speaks volumes. Taylor told me Grace slapped him a good one that day.

"Carrick, we have a guest." I watch Carrick lift his eyes from the book he's reading on the wicker patio couch.

"Ray. We weren't expecting to see you till tonight." He closes the book and tosses it onto the glass topped coffee table in front of him. I take a seat in the chair on the opposite side of the couch.

"I felt it would be better if we saw each other before then, especially with Christian's birthday party tomorrow." I tried to sort myself by compartmentalizing my feelings on the way over here and now I fear my anger over the Texas situation is going to bleed over into my anger for Carrick.

"You're right we should. I had a discussion with Ana yesterday followed by a lunch with my sons. I can't tell you how sorry I am for what my actions might have done to you and your family. I was able to finally truly apologize to Ana yesterday." He looks remorseful, but I can't let him off Scott free.

"Carrick, you're a highly respected lawyer. I don't understand what would make you do something like that to Ana and in such a public way. As a military man, I know all too well the ramifications that this could cause for Ana. Hell, it already is. Her life was already full of enough changes with Christian entering it. You've taken away something that was very important to her not to mention irreplaceable. I know you think its all hunky dorey now, but that is not the case." I have to take a deep breath because I need to say the things Ana will not say for herself.

"Ana's work with the government has been a lifeline for her. A preserver keeping her afloat. Now she has Christian, but that sense of independence, seeking justice those wronged or saving innocent lives and all that she was able to accomplish being under the radar is now gone. Her identity is tied to your son completely and if I know my daughter, she's going to resent that soon. She's never strived for fame, but because of the debacle with your daughter's friend, she's going to be writing a government sanctioned tell-all book and going on a talk show tour. Her selfless nature and innate desire to protect this country is putting her in the spotlight and imminent danger. She let the President talk her into being the new face of the CIA." I take a sip of my coffee waiting to see if anything is settling between his ears.

"Ray, I've always been fiercely protective of my children and I listened to the wrong person." Yeah, I know.

"Yeah, you listened to a pedophile and accused human trafficker." Grace looks shocked that I know about Elena Lincoln. "My daughter has now told me everything, but you should know that it was Christian who called me and told me about his past with Elena. What I want to know is what you plan to do in the future when others make similar claims about Ana? The press labels her as a gold digger half the time already. What are you going to do when a story comes out claiming that she's trapped him with an unexpected pregnancy?" These are all things Christian and I have discussed. As much as he wants to wait till October to propose, I see his patience wearing out before then.

"I would hope that I've learned to have faith in my son and believe what he and Ana have to tell me." Carrick looks contrite and indignant by the possibility that the press could print such things.

"When your son proposes, are you going to immediately stand up and demand a pre-nup to get Ana to prove she's not a gold digger like you thought she was?" I watch Grace and Carrick's eyes both go wide with that possibility. "I don't know what you know about their trip to New York before everything happened, but Christian already asked me for her hand. When I left this morning, they had plans to look at listings a realtor sent them for houses. They are planning their future together. Christian has already told me he won't let Ana sign a pre-nup, even though we both know she will want to sign one just to prove to everyone she doesn't want or need his money. To be honest with you Carrick, my daughter is worth more than you are. Her work has allowed her to amass a fortune in the last five years greater than yours from the last thirty. She doesn't need your son's money. She can buy her own designer gowns and jewelry. I believe you made specific mention of the fact that she allowed him to buy her gown for the Gala you hosted."

"I did and I am ashamed for that. She looked beautiful that night."

"My Annie is beautiful every night; she doesn't need fancy dresses or jewelry to look gorgeous. However, she and Christian recognized something in each other early on. It didn't take me long to see it the first night I met your son. Ana doesn't need those things, but Christian does. After he told me about his early childhood before the adoption, I realized his need to shower those he loves with gifts. His money is his security. It's his way of anchoring those around him. It's twisted, and he's assured me that he's been talking to his guy Flynn about it. Christian has spent years avoiding intimacy and emotion, but giving those around him generous and lavish gifts was his way of showing he money on those in his life is a way for him to feel needed. Ana saw that immediately and refused to deny him that."

"I've always thought that. For years my boy has been so lost. I feel Ana has really brought him out of his shell." Grace has a single tear sliding down her cheek and she is quick to wipe it away.

"From what I understand, Christian was already trying to pull himself out of the water, so to speak, when they met. She had only known him two days when she touched his chest, not knowing about his hapephobia. That should tell you something, that he didn't feel the need to tell her about it immediately and that he allowed her touch. He tells me now that it's her touch he craves most after so many years without someone's loving touch. And Grace before you get yourself truly upset, Christian knows he was loved by you two. He just needed to work out a few demons." Grace swallows and nods her head.

"If you boys will excuse me for a moment." Grace quickly lifts herself from the couch where she was sitting next to Carrick and scurries back into the house.

I watch and wait for her to be back in the house before I level my patented Colonel glare at one Carrick Grey.

"Ray." He looks completely unsure. "I know you're a reasonable man. Ana and I had a meeting yesterday and were able to clear the air."

"Don't bullshit me Grey. Do you know my daughter called me a month ago asking if she could come stay with me for a while? Of course, you don't. She was upset at seeing the man she loved cut off from his family so shortly after finally realizing that he was loved by them. She didn't want to be it the middle of you two. She was going to remove herself from the situation. In her twisted mind, it was all her fault. If she wasn't around you would all be one big happy family. I hung up on her in the middle of a sentence and called your son. I made him promise to bend her over and spank her ass for that. She had finally found love and she was going sacrifice her own happiness for your son to have peace with his family." I sit and let it sink in a little bit.

"You told him to what?!" Ah, so Carrick is paying attention.

"Yes, I know what I said. Christian has told me everything Carrick, and I mean everything. So, I know exactly what I was saying when I told him to spank her. My daughter is strong and independent enough. She won't let Christian run roughshod over her. But she can be completely selfless; I mean what kind of computer geek girl risks her life and safety for a thankless country on a countless basis. Even now, that the world knows she's CIA, she's not planning to leave the agency yet. She still feels like there is work she can do to help her country and she's not planning to quit just yet."

"Do you think that she'll quit when her and Christian get married?" Carrick catches me off-guard by his question.

"No, I don't think she'll quit until they decide to try to have children. As much as I would like to be a grandfather sooner rather than later, I don't think she's ready for that yet. Christian is, but she's not."

Carrick's eyes widen in alarm almost, "What do you mean Christian is ready?"

"See, you've missed out on a lot in the last six weeks. I've had the fortune to talk to Christian almost twice a week. He calls me, when his work schedule allows, at least once a week to update me on Ana. He wants everything with her, and he doesn't want to wait. Why do you think they're looking for homes? He doesn't want to raise their children in that museum that he passes off as an apartment. He wants a family home. He also wants to find it now, so that whatever upgrades they need to make can be done before they're married. He wants to start his married life someplace not haunted by the ghosts of his past."

"I screwed up royally. I don't know how Ana was able to so easily forgive me." Carrick is shaking his head in disbelief.

"It's simple. She loves Christian, and holding onto her anger meant that he held onto his. Ana forgave you so that Christian would accept you back into his life. This is as much for your wife and other children as it is for Christian. Don't kid yourself, even for a second, into believing that it was for you. Don't think for a moment that she won't be keeping one eye on you and always wondering when you will doubt her again." Ana is one of the least forgiving people I know.

"What?"

"You still don't get it, do you? I'm really going to have to knock it into you, literally. My daughter loves your son. She only forgave you because it was the only way Christian would start talking to you. She knew he had spent so many years keeping you and the rest of your family at arms-length. Now you have a granddaughter from one son, and another planning a life with his soul mate. She didn't want to be the person that stood in the way of Christian having the big happy family he deserves. For no other reason, Annie forgave you to give your son his father."

Carrick rises from the couch running his hand through his hair, a trait I've witnessed from Christian on a number of occasions. "So, she doesn't really forgive me. Damn it. That girl. How did my son get so lucky?" I watch Carrick pace a bit before I rise from my own chair. I take two steps to the left, knowing that I'll be in his direct path on his next circuit back.

"Carrick, the right question you should be asking yourself, is how did you get so lucky? Ana is going to make one amazing daughter-in-law."

I place my left hand to Carrick's right shoulder, squeezing, not too hard, but enough that he feels the pressure on his joint and stills. My right fist is clenched. "Don't ever forget how lucky you are ever again." With that I send a solid jab to his stomach, sending Carrick to his knees. He's going to be winded, and won't be doing any sit-ups for a few days, but no bruises will be seen. I leave Carrick crumpled on the patio and enter the house through the doors leading to the kitchen.

"How winded did you leave him?" Grace is sitting at her breakfast nook reading something on her iPad.

"If he's not off the ground in five minutes you should check on him. It was a solid gut punch. It'll likely bruise, but I didn't hit a kidney or hit too close to a rib. He's gonna be sore." I smile knowing he'll be moving slow and wincing this evening. Annie will likely give me her patented side eye when she sees how he's moving. She and Taylor both will know immediately what I've done.

"It's nothing that he doesn't deserve. Did you tell him that the only reason Ana forgave him was because of Christian?" She knows my daughter so well already.

"I did. I think he finally sees that she loves him for more than his money. No matter what he says, I know he was still thinking she was with him for what the name Christian Grey could do for her." I didn't voice it to Carrick, but I know that he was still thinking that Ana was only with him because the name Christian Grey opens doors.

"Carrick has had his moments over the years, and this has been one of the more truly stupid ones." Grace shakes her head. "I love your daughter, Ray. I can't wait for the day she's my daughter as well." I watch Grace rise from the table. "Let me walk you out. Ana will be sending the cavalry out looking for you soon."

I place a kiss to Grace's cheek when we reach the door and promise to see her when we return for dinner in the evening. I can't wait to meet this little spitfire Annie keeps telling me about. I've always wanted a larger family for my Annie. I thought our marine family would be good enough as a substitute for an extended family, but then her mother and I divorced. Now, Ana is getting the large family she has always wanted with the Greys and I know they'll welcome me into the fold without question.


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Cliffhanger warning. The Grey's finally get to meet Brooklynne, but it doesn't come without drama. Nothing can when it comes to the Steele Stories.**

 **Just a reminder for new readers, my bio has links to my Facebook and Pinterest profiles. The boards should be updated this evening. The bio also lists my tentative posting schedule for my stories.**

 **I've got a one-shot brewing, look for it in the next couple of weeks. Be sure to follow me so that you get the alert when it's posted.**

 **As always, I don't own FSOG. This however is my own original story borrowing the characters created by EL James.**

 **Laters**

A Steele Love

 **Chapter 6**

Saturday, June 17, 2017

Ana's POV

Hearing the elevator ping, Christian and I separate from each other straightening our clothes before stumbling out of the elevator.

"Do you think I can interest you in a shower, Snow White?" His breath is hot on my neck as he anchors himself to me with his hands on my waist, peppering my neck with kisses. "Watching you shoot your gun is one the sexiest things I'll ever get to witness."

I try to stifle a moan as he hits that spot just behind my ear, "Jason and Dad should be back from their fishing trip. Plus, we spent an hour longer shooting than originally planned. We need to hurry or we're going to be late. I refuse to subject myself to the wrath of Grace Trevelyan-Grey for being late because you wanted to get frisky. Come on, my white knight. I'll shower first while you consult your trusty sidekick. Let him know where we are going tomorrow before the party." I place a chaste kiss on his lips before I scurry off to our master suite.

Shampooing my hair, I send up a silent prayer that I come out of this room tonight and find my father in a better state of mind compared to yesterday. The way he looked at me last night before he retreated to Jason and Gail's apartment was exactly the reason I didn't tell him when I first came back from Texas. I wanted to avoid that look of pity. Its a large part of the reason Christian too has been hesitant in talking about his past. The sorrowful eyes of strangers from law enforcement to the medical profession were only a degree above tolerable, I knew in my gut at the time, that I would break if I saw that look from Ray. That was when I was believed anyway. I knew that Christian had made the same choice, to keep those that loved him in the dark not just to protect them, but to allow them to hold on to the illusion that he was just like everyone else. I believe he would have never told his parents if things hadn't turned out the way they did with Elena Lincoln. Not telling our families allowed each of us the ability to cling to the weathered and thin thread of what was left of our dignity. Different abuse and circumstances, same coping mechanism.

The whole of my shower is spent trying to figure out what I can say to my dad to make this right. I know that he'll be disappointed that I didn't tell him, I can deal with a little disappointment. I know he'll be angry on my behalf, I can deal with that. I can't, however, deal with the cold shoulder treatment. He barely spoke last night and the words he did speak were really directed at Christian.

Stepping from the shower, I wrap myself in one of the warm fluffy white towels that I love so much. I've decided to leave my troubles with my father to run down the shower drain and look to the positive of tonight's activities. We finally get to meet our little Brookie in person. We've manage to facetime with her a few times since we returned from the Maldives, but I want to envelop her in my arms and hold her tight.

Brooklynne has warm brown eyes and a button nose like her mother, but the whitest of blonde hair like her father. It's curly and completely unruly, adding to her troublemaker personality. She misses her mother, but doesn't seem to care much about staying with her aunt all the time. I know that she wants to be with her father more and I'm hoping that Elliot is able to get Carrick to go to bat for him. Elliot needs his little girl in his life, without the manipulation of one Leila Williams.

Thinking of Leila Williams, I feel my blood begin to boil. That woman tried to get on my schedule next week. I have no clue as to what she wants, but when Hannah forwarded me her request for a meeting, I told her flat out "no" and any more communications from Leila could be forwarded to Jason Taylor. I decided to run Leila's name again to see if anything has changed in the last two months. I should have that report when I return to work on Monday.

Stepping into our large dressing room/closet, I rummage through the racks of clothes to find a dress appropriate for tonight. I decide on a fitted black top with a boat neck and cap sleeves and a fit and flare black skirt with a white floral pattern. I have the prefect clutch to match, black with a cluster of embroidered white flowers on the front of it. Grabbing a pair of black platform peeptoe heels I take them all the bed to lay out. I can hear the shower running meaning I've only got moments to at least get my underwear on before he comes out.

I grab an Agent Provacateur set in sheer black with embroidered flowers along the edges of the bra and the front of the panties. I decide to skip the garter for tonight. Dressing quickly, I move back into the bathroom to blow dry my hair. I'm so engrossed in my task that I didn't even realize Christian was out of the shower until I feel his hands on my hips as I am bent over blow drying the underside of my long tresses.

Switching off the hair dryer, I toss it onto the counter top and turn in his arms. "I love when you're fresh from the shower. Your body wash is one of my favorite scents." I trace a line from his jaw and down the side of his neck as I hear the groan in his throat. "Tonight though, I plan to cover you with my own scent." I lick the side of his neck at the juncture with his shoulder and trace down around his collarbone before nipping just a little above his nipple.

"You're killing me here, Ana."

"I know. Go get dressed. I'll be ready to go in less than twenty. Can you see if Dad is ready when you're done?" I release my favorite man and turn back to the bathroom counter grabbing my brush.

"Yeah, I can do that. Do you have an aversion to color tonight?" He takes in my all black and white ensemble before finding my eyes in the mirror.

"None at all. I thought this would do for tonight though. I can't wait to see everyone. Hopefully no one brings up the reasons it's been so long since we've all been together."

Christian chuckles before placing a kiss to my neck. "No one would dare bring any of it up. My mother is finally meeting her granddaughter and none of us have the guts to put a damper on that." Christian starts to walk out of the bathroom before stopping in the doorway to our bedroom, "Snow White, turn-about is fair play." With that he drops the towel and flashes his panty dropping smile before sauntering off to dress.

Shaking my head and chuckling to myself, I turn back to the mirror and set about finishing my hair. I've decided to leave it down and straight, slicking it back. My makeup is minimalistic, just a nude gloss and mascara. The only jewelry I've selected for tonight is a large chunky opal stretch bracelet and a pair of floral designed opal earrings.

Grabbing my clutch, I stuff my phone and lip gloss inside before heading to the great room to find out what all the men are up to.

"I'll be sure and apologize Christian. I'm not worried about tonight in the sense that you think I am. I love Annie; I wish she had come to me. I understand why she didn't though. I can't change what happened to my little girl in the past, but I sure as hell can protect her from being hurt in the future." I recognize Daddy's voice immediately and I wonder what they are talking about.

"Are you fine gentlemen talking about me?" I walk into the room and find my love and my father standing near the fireplace. Dad is dressed in a black button up shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and a pair of light gray slacks.

Christian looks exceptional in a pair of dark khakis and a turquoise Ralph Lauren button up, rolled up to the elbows as well. "We were." That's all that Christian says as he turns to me. "If we don't hurry, we'll be late. I want to get there before Elliot and Brook do." I get a kiss to my cheek before he leaves to notify Luke that we are leaving.

"Annie, may I talk to you for a minute?" My dad sounds nervous and apprehensive all at the same time.

"Sure Dad." I take a step closer to him and watch the myriad of emotions cross his face. He takes the remaining three steps to me before engulfing me in a bear hug. "I'm so sorry Sweet Pea. I know that doesn't change anything and I was such an ass last night. There are no excuses, I know, but I was stuck in my own head. Thankfully, Jason pulled me out of it this morning. I've got some leave saved up. How about I put in a request and we take an extended weekend next month? You think your boss will let you take the time off? And so you know, Christian is more than welcome to join us. I wouldn't mind some downtime with the two of you."

Resting my head on my Daddy's chest as he holds me, I feel his love radiate through me. "That sounds wonderful Daddy. I'll look at my calendar on Monday and then we'll figure out where we want to go. I say we get out of this country for a few days. I'll get Jason and Gail to go with us as well. It'll be a nice change of scenery."

"Sounds like a plan Sweet Pea." Daddy gives me a kiss on the top of my head before he releases me. When he does I notice that Christian and Jason are standing off to the side waiting for us.

"Taylor is staying here tonight for some quality time with his Mrs. Sawyer is already down stairs with Prescott waiting with the car. Are you ready?" Christian looks serious and has his "trouble brewing" look on his face. Something is up, but he's not going to tell me, at least not in front of my father. I decide to let it go. I've finally agreed to allow Jason to control our personal security. I helped tweak a few protocols, but otherwise, I stay out of it. However, GEH's security is my baby. I've managed to set up an amazing team around me, and Barney and I have constructed a system more impenetrable than the NSA.

"We're good. Let's go meet our niece." Christian takes my hand and leads me and my dad to the elevator. His palm is sweaty in my grasp and I realize that Christian is nervous. This little girl will want to touch him and he's not sure how to handle that. We've discussed this numerous times after talking to her. He's determined to be free and open with her though. He refuses to let his ghosts haunt her. He wants to be past this. Christian told me last week that he needs to be okay with her touching him; otherwise our future children will be effected by his fear of touch. That's right, Christian said our future children.

Every time he starts to talk of our future together and the life he wants us to build, I fight the urge to ask him to run off to Vegas with me and get married. We couldn't do that. One, I want my father to walk me down the aisle when I get married. Two, Grace would strangle me for depriving her of the grand event that is her son getting married. Three, I know that our marriage would come with an ironclad 100 page prenup. It would have to. His father's a lawyer convinced that I'm a gold digger. Of course, I would need to sign a prenup. That thought hits me in the heart every time. I don't like the idea of planning for our possible end while planning our future.

Grace's POV

Ana texted me five minutes ago that she would be here with Christian and her father in about ten minutes. That means that I have five minutes to make sure my husband doesn't screw everything up. I watch as he winces trying to button up his white and blue checkered shirt. That hit he took from Ray was right in the middle part of his upper abdomen. Ray placed it just low enough that he only bruised his bottom ribs. The bruise from his fist though is another thing. Carrick will be lucky if it's gone in a week. Already, less than six hours later, it's a deep purple and about four inches high by six inches wide. Why Carrick ever thought that Ray wouldn't touch him I don't know. Ray Steele was a Marine in a Special Forces unit. The man knows how to let his fist do the talking for him. I just hope that my husband has learned his lesson.

When Carrick came home from Christian's office on Friday I was elated. He and Elliot had seemed to work things out. He was helping Elliot file for custody on Monday, and tonight I finally get to meet my granddaughter. I know once Carrick sees her, he will regret every one of his actions since learning of her. For two months we've known about Brooklynne, and I've been denied the ability to bond with her.

"Grace, is there anything else I can take for the pain besides the damned ibuprofen? This hurts more than I thought it would. I don't want anyone seeing me moving slow and wincing." Carrick is whining yet again.

"Cary, suck it up. You're lucky that Ray didn't do more to you, he should have. You still don't realize what you have done to Ana. You really think she's decided to forgive you and let bygones be bygones. You need to understand, none of this has anything to do with you. She did it for Christian. Ana wants him to be surrounded by his family and her being at odds with you would prevent that. She forgave you for Christian, not for you." I walk out of the room knowing that the group will be here soon.

Mia is already downstairs waiting on pins and needles. She wanted to go shopping this morning and buy everything she could for Brooklynne, but not knowing her sizes yet, she decided to buy her a little stuffed white unicorn. It has shiny gold feet and a shiny gold horn. Mia is convinced she will love it. I'm sure that she will too, I mean she's only five but that's the prime unicorn undying love demographic, right?

Dinner tonight will be a mild affair. We're having Elliot's favorite slow cooked pot roast with baby carrots and potatoes. We're serving a small salad with it and strawberry banana sorbet for dessert. I've given the staff the night off, I didn't want anyone extra getting their eyes on my granddaughter just yet.

I hear the doorbell ring just as I reach the bottom stair. "I'll get it." I hear Mia's squeal and watch as she rushes past me in a bubble gum pink Kate Spade dress with a leather fringe belt. I can hear the voices of everyone as Mia greets them and I decide to make my way to the kitchen to check on our dinner before joining our guests. Checking each crockpot, I ensure that the pot roast is tender and ready to fall apart. Turning the settings down to warm so that the meat doesn't over cook and dry out as I replace the lid, it's just as I wanted, perfect.

"Grace, is there anything I can do to help?" I turn to see Ana walking around the island to join me by the counter. "It smells amazing in here."

"Thank you dear. I don't need any help. We'll plate up and serve it when everyone gets here. How are you dear?" I take in her outfit and how put together she looks.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit nervous. Frankly, I'm a little leery being here again with Carrick, but I have to hide it or Christian will ostracize his father more than he already has. I'm also not sure how I feel about Dad being in the same room as Carrick. I'm excited to meet Brooklynne finally though." She reaches into the refrigerator for a bottle of water opening it and leaning her back against the counter.

"I wouldn't worry about Carrick and Ray. I think that they'll keep it civil with everyone around. Now, before my granddaughter gets here, I feel like I should put down some ground rules." I try and give her my most serious look; the one that always made my children cower when they were younger. "Brooklynne is mine, first. You must all get in line behind me. You may try to hug and kiss on her only after I've had my fill of her, which may be never."

Ana's face breaks out into a large smile softened by her glistening blue eyes. "I would never try and push my way in front of you. I should warn you though; you might have to fight Christian for first in line. He's determined to get to her and hug her without restrictions."

I watch her finish the last of her water before she starts to exit the kitchen. "It'll all be okay Grace. Tonight is a reason to celebrate and if I have to take care of anyone for messing up your night I will." With a wink she's out before I can say anything else.

Elliot's POV

"Princess, are you ready?" I check my rearview mirror once again to check on Brooklynne in her booster seat in the back of my car.

"Yes Daddy, I'm ready. I want to meet my aunts and uncle and my Grandma Grace and Papa Cary." I've shown her pictures of everyone and she knows all their names by heart. I can't wait for her to finally be a real part of our family. Hopefully Dad can get this custody issue pushed through.

Pulling into my parents' circle drive I easily spot Christian's fleet. Mia texted this afternoon that she would be here before we got here, as well. Parking the car next to Christian's, I take a deep breath in and then let it out slowly before getting out the car and rounding the back to open the door and help Brooklynne out of the car.

"Calm down, Daddy. They're going to love me. Aunt Ana said so." Thank God for Ana. She has talked to my little girl almost every time I get her alone.

Taking Brooklynne's hand, I simply smile down at her and send up a little prayer for peace tonight. Brooklynne is in a little white short-sleeved dress with three little pearls in the front on the top half, with a lavender bow in the middle. Her blonde hair has been brushed no less than five times tonight and perfect little wavy curls fall around her shoulders. I used a little flower clip to pin part of it back on the left side out of her face.

I barely get a knock on the door before it is opened. There is my brother staring at the little girl holding my hand. I watch as Christian squats down and holds his hand out for Brooklynne.

"Well, hello there pretty lady." She looks at his hand and then back at me. I wink at her, she lets go of my hand and launches herself at Christian. He's quick to gather her up and lift her up in his arms. I can hear him whispering in her ear and I can only stare mesmerized as he allows my daughter to touch him in a way that I never have. "I love you,Brookie." He kisses her hair before turning and leaving me on the front porch as he enters the house.

Christian's POV

I want one of these. I'm holding Brooklynne tight and all I can think about is that I want a child of my own. I want one as soon as Ana will let me knock her up. I want a little mini Ana to love and protect. My own daughter that looks like her mother and acts just like her. Long chocolate locks, brilliant sky blue eyes, and a spitfire attitude that makes me smile every day. Brooklynne's arms are tight around me and the minute she told me she loved me I was in love with her. My niece has me wrapped around her little finger with such ease already. I wonder if I can take her to a few meetings with me, I bet she could convince some of my biggest competitors to do what I want.

"Uncle Christian, where is Aunt Ana?" Her little voice tinkles like a bell in my ear.

"She's in the family room with everyone else. Wait until you meet your grandma though. She is so excited to meet you. Aunt Ana knows you want to see her. She'll wait so that you can meet everyone and then you can crawl up in her lap, okay?" She pulls her head back off my shoulder to look at me, serious for the moment.

"Are you sure that they want to meet me? Aunt LeeLee says that the Greys don't want me. That's why Daddy didn't come around for so long." I stop in my tracks and decide to stop in the formal sitting room before heading to the family room with everyone else. I look over my shoulder and send Elliot a look that I hope he understands. I need to have a talk with my little girl alone.

Once we're seated on the loveseat, I stroke her hair as I think of exactly what to say. "Brooklynne, I know that you missed out on so much not knowing us for so many years, but we will all love you. No matter what happens in life, we love you, including my parents. The truth is; that none of us knew you existed, including your father. What your aunt told you was simply untrue. We all want to be with you. We want to spend as much time as we can with you, but right now, the law says that you have to live with your aunt. I don't want you getting in trouble with her, so how about we keep this conversation between the two of us."

Her eyes are bright, a brown matching her mother's and aunt's perfectly. "Like a secret?" I nod my head in agreement, but say, "Kinda, but since we all know, it's not really a secret. It's just something we won't really talk about until your daddy says the time is right. Is that Okay?"

She bobs her head in understanding. "Okay, can we go see everyone else now?" Once again I nod, and stand, still holding her in my arms. I know her legs work, but I want to carry her. I'm going to need to talk to Elliot and Jason. I need to make sure that she's protected at all times. I don't want anything happening to her, and I fear for her, the longer she's in Leila's custody.

Entering the informal family room, I find everyone watching and staring at us. My mother is silently crying, Mia is shell shocked, and Dad looks miserable. I think he may be silently berating himself for being the sole reason that this hasn't happened yet. Ray is standing near the fire place and watching in amazement as well. A look passes over his face and I know he gets it too. He sees what I want, as well. Ana stands and walks to me and places a kiss to my cheek before she asks Brooklynne if she can introduce her to everyone.

Brooklynne jumps into Ana's arms and I walk toward Ray. He places a hand on my shoulder as we watch Ana walk around the room with Brook. "You want that don't you?"

"Yes, I want it Ray. I want it more than anything. If you had asked me last year, I would have told you that you were crazy. But I want to make her my wife and then the mother of my children. I've got a designer working on finding a ring for her. I'm hoping to hold off for the plans that I made for October, but I don't know if I'll be able to wait that long. I know if I asked her to marry me tonight, she would say yes. However, I don't think that she's ready for kids, and that is something I want sooner rather than later, as well. Brooklynne is already five. She'd be at least six when the next grandchild is born." Ray is nodding his head and sipping his scotch when I continue. "She's skittish enough right now thanks to everything that is happening in our lives at the moment. Telling her I want kids as soon as possible might be too much for her."

Ray stares at his glass a moment before looking back at me. "She might not be as hesitant as you think. Look at her with that little girl. She wants a family with you. She might not want it tomorrow, but I doubt she'll make you wait years like you think she will." Another clap to the shoulder and Ray saunters off to sit by Mia and chat with Brook.

Ana has relinquished Brooklynne to my mother and sister. She sees me and walks over with a smile reaching farther than her eyes. I wrap her in my arms and inhale her signature scent, vanilla and cinnamon, "I want one of those Christian." I feel my heart stop. Did she just say what I think she said? I pull back and look into her eyes trying to see what she meant.

"I want a child of our own. I don't think I want to start on it tomorrow, but let me get this book finished and do everything I've promised to do with it and then we can talk." I feel her love radiating through me and I can't believe once again that I found this woman and she is mine. I kiss her as gently as I can considering the company that we have, pouring all my love into it. I need to make this woman mine as soon as possible.

Ana's POV

"Dad, care to explain why Carrick is wincing and walking so gently?" I had notice the small movements Carrick continued to make all night, the pain etched on his face. Dad must have gave him a well-placed gut punch, but when did this happen?

"I have no idea what you're talking about Sweet Pea. Now how about we get some of that wonderful smelling pot roast Elliot has spent the last thirty minutes drooling over.

"Sure thing, Daddy. You know nothing about Carrick's probably bruised ribs, and I am the crowned Princess of England." I'll just corner Jason. He must know when this happened.

Grace and Mia have placed plates all around the table. Carrick is at the head of the table, Grace on his right. Next to her are Brooklynne and then Elliot. Carrick's left is occupied by Mia and then Christian and I. My dad is next to me on the end with Elliot on his left. Grace has served the salads and we've moved onto the pot roast. Dinner is delicious and the conversation around the table is light and fun.

Brooklynne is an angel and I know Christian and I have been thinking the same thing all night. We want that, but there are a few other things to deal with first. Mainly our newest threats and this book I've been hoodwinked into writing. Then I would like to be married at least a day before we started trying. I don't know what kind of plans Christian has, but I wonder if it would be too forward of me to ask him to marry me first.

I'm taking that last sip of my wine when Brooklynne starts stalking about Christian's birthday party tomorrow. "Why don't I get to come to the party tomorrow? I want to help Uncle Christian blow out his candles." I look at Elliot and try to see what he's thinking.

"Princess, I want to take you, but I've explained this. Right now you live with your Aunt Leila. She says that you have to spend Sundays with her, so I can't take you." Elliot looks sad, and Christian looks like he wants to call the Governor to activate the National Guard to take care of this for Elliot.

"But I'm going to Miss Mona's tomorrow night. Aunt LeeLee says that she's going with her new boyfriend to the birthday party. If she can go why can't I go?" Did I just hear that right? I read over that guest list twice yesterday and never saw her name.

"Who are you talking about, Princess?" Elliot is trying his best to conceal his emotions, but it's his brother I'm worried about. Christian is one word away from blowing up. I know his palm is twitching ready to call Jason and ask what the hell is going on. As far as I know, surveillance was never removed from Leila. So who is the new boyfriend? That should have showed up in the reports.

"I'm supposed to start calling him Uncle Jack. He's not very nice. He gives me funny looks and calls me names. I told him I wanted to live with my Daddy and he says that I can't or him and Aunt LeeLee won't get what they want." Brooklynne looks like she is on the verge of tears and I can't help but want to gather her in my arms.

"Baby, I know this is hard, but do you know what they want?" Elliot is trying to be as gentle and soft as he can, but it's not enough to stop the tears that are falling down Brooklynne's cheeks.

"I don't want to get in trouble. I was supposed to be in bed. Uncle Jack would get really mad if he knew I heard him. I don't want him mad at me again." Grace is furious now. She's thinking exactly what I am, and if I have to start calling in some of my connections, I'll find a judge tonight to sign an emergency order of custody. What have these people done to this little girl?

"Brooklynne, I promise, I won't let anything happen to you. We'll figure something out. Now can you tell me what they want?" Elliot's focus is only on his daughter, the same as the rest of us.

Her words come out so quiet, almost a whisper, and I almost want to wish I imagined her response, but the baritone words from my knight only serves to confirm what she says. "They want Uncle Christian and Aunt Ana?" Christian repeats, in a measured calm tone.


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: Most of you follow my other stories. If you do, you know some of what is going on in my personal life. Last week I finally got some results back, although I am now left more questions and fewer answers. The doctor has been able to rule a number of things, but now I require specialists to continue with the list of possible diagnosis.**

 **I try to write as much as I can. However, there are days that I am physically unable to do so. Some days I have tremors that wrack my whole body and leave my body feeling the effects for days after. The pain is bearable most of the time, but as we are trying to diagnosis, narcotics are not an option, as they may mask important symptoms.**

 **As of now the only for sure things we know are this, my Vitamin D and Vitamin B-12 deficiencies are not improving as expected. I have been ordered more sunlight, or a tanning bed if needed, more over the counter supplements, and my weekly injections are now three times a week.**

 **One of the bulging discs that were discovered last year, have now become fully herniated. I must try to endure so must physical therapy in the coming months, but will likely be having spinal surgery after the first of the year. As if this wasn't enough, there are a couple confirmed spots of nerve damage. I must now see a specialist for a specific test for nerve damage and pain thresholds.**

 **Saturday was what I called a good day. My family traveled to our great state's University for their homecoming celebration and football game. It required strategic planning, but it was a wonderful afternoon and evening with my family. Unfortunately, we did not anticipate the muscle spasms I would be wracked with yesterday. I have resorted to the aid of a walker after a near collapse on my mother in her yard yesterday afternoon.**

 **Hello, my name is Jennifer. I'm 33 years old, have an undiagnosed medical condition, and require the use of my grandmother's old walker to move around my home. I tell you this not for sympathy, but so that you may have a little understanding. All this and I try to write as much as my body can. I am unable to update as often as I was, but I hope that the updates I am able to get out are enough to keep the you coming back for more.**

 **So anyway, the usual. I don't own FSoG. I have a Facebook and Pinterest. I haven't been on the Facebook page or in any of the groups for over a month, but I am trying to keep up with the Pinterest boards at least. Grey Vitals will likely be updated next, as I am experience a bit of writer's block for Submissive Beginning. I want the ending to be perfect and I need to rework some details for that to come about.**

 **Thank you for sticking around. It means a lot. I hope you enjoy. Chapter 8 will bring us to Christian's birthday.**

 **A Steele Love**

 **Chapter 7**

Christian's POV

"They want Uncle Christian and Aunt Ana?" I used every ounce of Dom control I had not to show what I was really feeling. I was angry and fearful at the same time. Listening to Brooklynne cry, all I could think of was the awful things they were likely doing to her mental health. It was bad enough Leila was being the bitch of the century to tell my niece we didn't love her or want her. But now to find out she is allowing her to be mistreated and terrorized by her boyfriend, is beyond reprehensible.

I want to know how come my security team hadn't alerted me to a boyfriend. He's obviously spent time in the home if Brook heard them talking when she was supposed to be asleep.

Ana's voice finally breaks through my inner monologue. "Carrick, can I see you in your office?" He simply nods his head and I watch the two of them leave the table. I only take a moment before deciding to join them.

"I'll be right back El. Give her a big squeeze for me." I hastily make my way to dad's office.

"Carrick, you need to call Judge Miles. She's a family judge and she takes exception to abuse. Bertha owes me a favor or two as well. You make sure she knows I'm cashing in and tell her I'll consider us even. She'll sign the emergency order immediately and see that it's served." Ana's voice is strong, and I can hear the barely held fury.

"I also need to call a social worker to come talk to Brook. We need a report from one, and Grace needs to stay out of this. We all have to be above board." My dad looks up and acknowledges my presence catching my gaze. "Christian, can you go back to your mother and brother make sure they understand that we can't question Brooklynne about any of this. Ask her to get Mia busy readying a room for our baby for the night. She isn't going anywhere."

My dad just referred to her as our baby. Brooklynne has only been in our presence a few hours and already every one of us would lay down our lives for her. Rushing back to the dining room I pull my mom and Elliot away. Brooklynne is currently sitting in Mia's lap and holding a conversation with Ray about the unicorn Mia just gave her.

"Dad says we can't question Brook. We need to call a social worker to come in and do it. Ana knows a judge who will sign an emergency custody order immediately, but we'll need reports to file with the petition in court on Monday. I'm guessing Dad will likely need the DNA tests results Elliot. Oh, and Mom, Dad asked that you have Mia make up a guest room for Brook for tonight." I try to remain calm, but all I can do is think that this little girl has gone through something similar as me and it makes my blood boil.

Nodding, my mom replies with a gleam in her eye, "I already called Erika Moss. She's our go to gal at the hospital, and she has a special way with children. All she needs is a few sheets of paper and box of crayons and she'll get Brooklynne to tell her everything. She's over in Kirkland, so it shouldn't be long before she gets here. You go back to your father and Ana. We're good here and all on the same page." My mother kisses my cheek and sends me on my way. I will always admire Grace Grey for the strong woman that she is.

I decide to make a stop to talk to Sawyer before I head back to the office. I'm not calling Taylor. I want him to have his time with Gail. Being with Ana has made me realize just how lucky I've been to keep them with me. I worked them like dogs and any other couple would have likely quit for all the time I kept them apart with my demands of Taylor.

Stepping out the front door, Sawyer is immediately on alert and walking briskly to me from the car. "We have a situation, but you can wait till tomorrow to report it to Taylor. Brooklynne has said some things to lead us to believe she might be being abused by Leila's boyfriend." I watch the confusion mare his face before I continue. "I see you see the problem. I want to know why our guys on Leila didn't report a boyfriend. All we know is that Brooklynne says she's supposed to call him Uncle Jack, and he has been in the home overnight."

"I'll call and see what Johnson reports. He's been on Leila since this afternoon. Robbins is set to relieve him at midnight. Is there anything to do tonight? I can get all the past reports on her movements when we return to the penthouse." Sawyer is as stoic as Taylor, but I see a bit of disbelief and ire across his face.

"This whole thing is exasperating. That little girl is number one in this family right now and the idea that any one is hurting her sickens me. There is a social worker on her way, Erika Moss, she's worked with Mom before. She needs to speak with Brook, but either way, my niece isn't returning to her aunt's home. Before I forget, I don't know how she's planning it, but Leila was planning to show up at the party tomorrow with this boyfriend. Apparently, they want Ana and I."

"We'll be on alert Mr. Grey." I shake my head. Jason and Gail have finally stopped calling me Mr. Grey, but Sawyer remains as professional as ever with me; Ana not so much.

"Very well. I don't know how long we'll be here tonight. You're welcome to come inside once Miss Moss gets here and help yourself to some of the leftovers. Mom's pot roast is always a desired dish." Sawyer simply nods before I turn and head inside.

Entering the house, I dash to the office before anything else keeps me from knowing what is going on. "Christian, good you're here. Have you called Taylor?" Ana's question catches me off guard.

"No. I just spoke with Sawyer. There is nothing for Taylor to do tonight. He can be briefed tomorrow. He's spending the evening with his wife, and I'm not interrupting that." Ana's smile is infectious, and I decide to tell them what Mom told me. "Mom said she called a collogue, Erika Moss, she's a social worker that sees patients that are minors at the hospital often. She should be here shortly. What did the Judge say?"

Dad looks at me with a set of hard eyes. "I don't know what your girl here has done for the Judge, but she promised the order will be signed and delivered within the hour. I need the social worker's report and Elliot's proof of paternity when we go to court Monday morning, but Brooklynne isn't going anywhere before then." I almost here a hint of respect in his voice.

"What I did for the Judge isn't your concern Carrick. It was legal though, that's all I'll tell you. Now, do we need to run and get some clothes for Brooklynne for the night?" Ana doesn't even hide the mirth in her voice.

Dad simply shakes his head and laughs, "No, Mia started shopping for Brooklynne weeks ago. Grace doesn't seem to know, but Mia has already filled one of the guest room closets for her. Her next steps are to complete the redecoration of the room into a fairy garden theme for her." Of course, my sister has already been to the mall. Any excuse to shop.

"I say we've done all that we can for the moment then. Why don't we rejoin the family and see about a little girl? Christian, I want to stay till the social worker is done, see if there is anything we need to know for security, before we go home." Ana does her best to gather my dad and I up and usher us back to the rest of the family.

When she's within arm's reach, I grab her around her waist and haul her back against my chest. "I love you Ana. Thank you for watching out for my family tonight."

She leans into me and turns her head, resting her cheek on my chest and I press a kiss to her temple. "I would do anything for any of them, even Carrick. They're my family now too Christian. I would do anything for them, for you."

"I love you, Snow White."

"I love you too, my white knight."

Elliot's POV

My family. I don't know what I would do without them, or where I would be. Tonight, hasn't gone the way I thought it would. I am full of rage and sorrow. I'm sick at the thoughts of what my daughter might have been experiencing in my absence. I also feel the need to pound someone into the ground and never let them get back up. If it weren't for my family, I would be drinking away my problems, or chasing a skirt.

I've changed a lot since Lena called me and asked me to be a part of my daughter's life. I knew she was worried about Brooklynne being in danger, but I want to be with her all the time. Brook makes me want to be a better man. I want to be someone she can look up to. I want to be a man that she sees as her ultimate protector, someone to chase away her bad dreams, and the monsters under her bed. I also want to be the one that gets to beat up any boy that looks sideways at her. I missed a lot of her life in the beginning, but no more.

I don't know what Leila has been up to and I don't know who this boyfriend is, but I'm not going to sit back and let them do anything to hurt my little girl. In these past months, Brooklynne has become my everything. I'm going to have to ask dad about petitioning to change her birth certificate as well and give her my last name. Brooklynne is a Grey and I want her to grow up to be a strong woman like my mother, I want her to know the love I knew growing up. I want her to know what it means to be a Grey.

Our family hasn't been in the best place the last two months, a lot of that is my father's doing, some of it brought about because of the secrets my brother and I held since our adolescence. But I firmly believe my father's mistakes were all an act of misguided love and protection on his part. Our parents have always wanted to protect us from the evils of the world, and hearing that they allowed the Devil's Bitch into our home, rocked them to their core. I realize that for my father, it was easier for him to believe that Ana had set up Elena and lied about things, than it was for him to think that he was close friends with a woman who abused not one, but both of his sons. She got her hooks more firmly implanted in Christian, but she didn't let me go so easy. I was just better at calling her bluff. Christian has always been worried about being abandoned and Elena played on that.

No more though. Checking my watch once again, I see that only ten minutes have passed since Ms. Moss arrived and took Brooklynne into the family room to talk to her. Dad promised that he had an intern on his way with the emergency order, but we have to meet with the judge first thing Monday with Ms. Moss' reports along with my letters from Lena, my DNA test results and our official petition for full custody.

"Elliot, I have a room upstairs that I have been working on putting together for Brooklynne. It's the guest room across the hall from your old bedroom. The walls still have the wainscoting, but Dad repainted them white a couple weeks ago and then the rest of the walls were painted in a very pretty lavender color. He even gave me his credit card this week to decorate it however I saw fit. It's a peaceful butterfly theme. I was going to make it a little fairy garden, but when I saw the color dad picked to paint the walls, I changed my mind. We took out the high-top queen bed and replaced it with a twin one for her. Mom emphasized not spoiling her, so she has less toys than I wanted to get her. There is a bookcase shaped like a dollhouse though and we filled it with books." Mia is excited, and I know that the closet must already be full of clothes.

"That's wonderful, I'll see it as soon as Brooklynne is ready to head up to bed for the night. Thank you for that Mia." I sit silent for another moment and then I realize what she said. "Wait, did you say that Dad painted the room weeks ago?"

Mia scoffs and looks at her fingernails. "Of course, he did. Dad knew that he would find a way to make everything right, and he wanted to be ready when he did. I don't think he thought we would need the room for Brooklynne so soon, but I'm glad that it's ready. I even got a little gentle kid's shampoos and bath set for her. It's under the sink in the guest bathroom at the end of the hall by Mom and Dad's bedroom." With that Mia saunters out of the room.

Once again, I'm left to my own thoughts in the formal sitting room. I'm lost in thought when I feel someone behind me. Looking back, I see Ana's father standing behind the couch looking intently at me. "Ray, can I get you something?" I'm not sure I like being under his gaze like this. Now I know why Christian squirms when he talks about the Colonel.

"I think I should be asking you that question." Ray walks around the back of the couch and sits on the opposite end. "I'm not going to lie and pretend I don't know what all is going on. Ana tells me quite a bit. I don't think she does it to be a gossip or anything like that. You see, Ana has only ever had me and her mother. When she started college, she met Kate and her family tried to take her under their wing, but she kept them all at arm's length. Kate is the closest thing she has to a sister, but you should know that in the last month, she's not referred to any of you, even Carrick the son of a bitch, as Christian's family. She's referred to each of you as her family. Being invited here tonight, you all accepted me into the family, and I want you to know that family sticks together. Ana will pull every string and connections she needs to protect your little girl."

I smile thinking of Ana with Brooklynne. "I'll bet you $100 you're on your way to grandfatherhood within in the year."

"He damn well better marry her first." Ray looks a little put out, but then I see the little sparkle in his eye.

"I don't think you need to worry about that. You should see Ana when she Facetime's with Brook. She lights up the minute she hears her scream "Aunt Ana" into the phone." I watched Ana and Christian both with her today. I am in awe at the way my brother allowed her to touch him in a way I never have. I also saw the two of them whispering to one another once my mother had Brooklynne. "I hear the joy in her voice when she talks about her. I didn't meet Ana till after her trip to New York, I was sure she was an unemotional ball buster. She wasn't too happy with me for not being forthcoming with Christian and the family. Apparently, she gave Christian the same spiel for not telling our family sooner too." Ray is shaking his head and I'm a bit confused. "What did I say wrong?"

He proceeds to tell me, "You didn't say anything wrong. Ana can appear to be completely detached. I'm sure that is exactly what she wanted you to think of her. However, it's a coping mechanism and I wished she had taken her own advice. Everyone has some dark secret they don't want to tell everyone. They can think they're protecting their family and themselves by keeping it hidden away, but in my experience, it's only going to crash harder when it all comes out later on. Christian had his past, you had yours and your daughter, Ana has her own, and while I know more today than I did last week, I don't think I know everything. Ana doesn't know everything from my past. We all keep something, but sometimes, it's worse in the end." I know something happened yesterday afternoon after Dad's visit to Christian's office, but I have no clue what it was.

"Is everything alright with Ana, Ray?" I really worry about her sometimes. I know we're supposed to believe that she is out of the CIA, but I think just her main undercover work is over. Then again, if I know my brother, he'll chain himself to her to keep her safe, and working for the CIA isn't exactly safe.

"I'm not sure I'm at liberty to answer that for you. There are a few things going on, but nothing she can't handle. Thankfully she's got Christian to keep her in line and in check. As for that $100, I'll raise you to $500. I say they'll be hitched, but it'll be a few years before they go the kid route. I don't mind taking a turn with yours now and then though. She's pretty damn cute." I smile at that.

"She's the best thing I've ever done, and I can't get over missing the first five years of her life. She's only been part of my world for the last six months, but she's made me a better man. I'm glad that everyone knows about her now. I don't have to pretend to keep being the man whore that I was. I must admit though, I'm scared to do this single dad thing. I don't want to fail her." Ray is divorced and probably the only one that can understand my fear.

"You've got everyone surrounding you for support and a safety net. When Annie's mother left me, I didn't have family around me to help. I thought I was doing the right thing by letting her go with her mother and not fighting it. I was wrong. She came back to me though. I didn't have her on my own when she was Brooklynne's age, but I'm here if you need anything. Tacoma isn't that far a drive anymore, and Christian has promised a lift in his helicopter in case of a true emergency." Ray sits back, regards me a bit before I see a shake of his head as if to dispel some unpleasant thoughts. "Elliot, I wasn't around as much as I would have liked when Ana was little. I spent a lot of time overseas on missions and deployments. I tried to be there as much as possible. Hell, I even had a tea party once with her while I was in my dress uniform because she begged for five more minutes before I had to leave. What I'm trying to say is that, as long as you take the time to be there and show her that you care, even if it's the only five minutes that you've got, she'll be just fine. She'll know that you love her and will always be there for her."

"Thanks Ray." I start to lift myself from the couch intent on a trip to the kitchen for a glass of Mom's sweet tea, and I see Ms. Moss step into the room.

"Mr. Grey, can I have a moment with you and your parents. I'd like to discuss what I've learned. Your sister has taken Brooklynne to the kitchen for some ice cream.

"Of course, they're all in my father's office." I start to head out of the sitting room to lead the way for Ms. Moss and I stop for a minute. "Ray, are you coming? I think it would be best to let Ms. Moss here update the whole family at once. We can fill Mia in about what she needs to know later." With that, I do leave the room, with him following, hoping that Ray understands he's important to us all now too.

Ana's POV

I watched Ms. Erika Moss enter Carrick's study behind Elliot and followed by my father. "Is everything okay?" I must have been the first to see them. I watch as Carrick, Grace, and Christian all turn toward the door. We've spent nearly the last hour holed up in here while Brooklynne was being interviewed.

"I felt it was prudent to discuss a few things with you tonight." Ms. Moss makes her way to the leather couch in front of Carrick's bookshelves and situates herself as she pulls a folder out of her briefcase. "There are a few causes for concern, and I'm glad that you called me in Grace."

"Erika, please tell me my granddaughter is okay." Grace looks ready to burst into tears and the men all look ready to rip someone apart.

"How about Dad and I get everyone something to drink, something strong, and then we can listen to what Ms. Moss has to say?" I start to head toward the small serving tray close to the door. Carrick keeps a pretty nice scotch in a crystal decanter over there.

"Ana, please sit. I can't wait another minute. I'm afraid if you put a glass in my hand I'm going to throw it against the wall when I hear what she has to say about my little girl." Elliot looks like someone is about to tell him his puppy died.

"Mr. Grey, Elliot," Oh geez, Erika is going to hit on him while this is all going on. She's all breathy looking at him and I just know it's going to happen. I thought Grace said this woman was a professional. "Right now, keeping your daughter here with you is the best thing you can do for her. She can't go back into that home until there has been a full investigation. We discussed her aunt's boyfriend. Brooklynne doesn't know his last name. She says she only ever sees him at their house, and that he's always at the house before they get home and he leaves after they do. When I asked her about him getting angry, she mentioned he slapped her a few weeks back. She said it left a mark on her chin and that Leila had called you and said that she was running fever with her allergies and needed sleep. I'm guessing she was supposed to spend time with you that day?"

Elliot is riding a fine line between bursting into tears and exploding in rage. My man is standing beside me on the end of the couch with a hand on my shoulder. To anyone looking at Christian, he's his same, always calm and his sometimes-aloof self. The grip he has on my shoulder tells me he is not any of those things at the moment. He's ready to tear this mystery man apart. "It was almost three weeks ago. I was going to get Brooklynne and meet Christian and Ana at the zoo that day with her. Leila called a few hours before I was to pick her up and said that Brook had a slight cough and was running a fever. Nothing that something over the counter couldn't fix and that I could get her the next day. I took her to the zoo alone because Ana and Christian had plans to take his boat out."

Grace speaks up before either Christian or I can. "I remember that. It was the Friday before Memorial Day. You called asking if she should be seen. I remember telling you that unless her fever spiked over 102 that the over the counter meds would do the job."

"Okay. That helps. The next thing that concerns me, Brooklynne is very worried for her Aunt and Uncle. She's also upset that she won't be allowed to go to the birthday party, when Leila and her boyfriend can. She seems to think that Leila and Jack want to do something to hurt Christian and Ana. All she would tell me is that she overheard them a few days ago when she was supposed to be in bed. I believe this is what started this tonight. She said that all she remembers is that Leila said that she had everything set and if they followed the plan, they would get in the party. Brooklynne then asked me if I could get Ana to add her name to the list like she did Jack's." This time Erika looks me in the eyes when she asks her next question. "Ana, do you have a prior relationship with Jack? Brooklynne seems to think that Jack wants you."

"I'm not sure who this man is, but no, I don't have a prior relationship with him. I also know that there is no one by the name of Jack on the guest list. Leila could have showed up as someone's plus one, and still wouldn't get in. Everyone needs an invitation and must show ID before they get in. She could show up in a wig and prosthetic nose and she still wouldn't get in. I'll talk to Taylor first thing in the morning about it though." I'm thinking over the guest list, and then I know what it must be. I'll find Mia when we are done

"Ms. Moss is that everything?" Christian is getting impatient. He doesn't like waiting for information to drawn out.

"No, there is a bruise spanning the width of Brooklynne's upper right thigh. I'm not the doctor, so I can't tell you how old it is, but it's dark and purple. It's about two inches wide. I asked her what happened, and she said that she dropped her cup of juice yesterday on the carpet and Jack pushed her. She said that it caused her to fal) against the coffee table in the living room. Leila made her promise to make sure that you didn't dress her so that you wouldn't see it."

"She succeeded. Brooklynne was already potty trained, and I've never had to bathe her because I've not kept her overnight. Brook has always preferred to dress on her own when I need her to change." Elliot looks down right despondent at this point. However, if his brother doesn't loosen the grip on my shoulder I'm going to have bruises in the outline of his fingerprints, and that won't work well with my dress for the party tomorrow night.

"Elliot, it's important that you understand that you've done nothing wrong. A concerned father would act exactly the way that you are right now. You are correct to get the Social Services involved. There are procedures that we must follow now for her case file. I took a photo of Brooklynne's thigh, but I'd appreciate it if you met me at the hospital at 9 am tomorrow, so that Dr. Monroe can do a full work up on her. I want to have all our ducks in a row. It's my understanding that Judge Miles was already signing a temporary custody order. Normally, I'd sign a form and have police remove the child from the abusive home and then take care of the official order the next day court is in session. You've made my job a little easier, but we still have several steps to be taken. Mr. Grey, Elliot, I'll need to inspect your home as well. You'll need to ensure she has her own sleeping space. You'll need to present a plan for school and childcare. The less you can change of your routine the better. I'll have a report couriered to your practice tomorrow afternoon Mr. grey. Elliot, don't fret. She's safe now." I watch Ms. Moss rise from the couch and I must commend her. It appears my earlier assumptions were wrong about the esteemed social worker. I watch her reach into her pocket and pull out a card. She flips it over and scrawls something on the back and hands it to Elliot. "That's my card. It has all my work contact info, and I put, my personal cell number on the back. If you need me for anything, and I mean anything, you give me a call." With a wink Ms. Erika Moss proves my gut is always correct.

Grace excuses herself to walk Ms. Moss to the door and I wait to see if anyone is going to say anything. After what seems like an exorbitant amount of time, finally Daddy clears his throat. "Is there anything I can do for anyone. I can offer assistance in the gym tomorrow. I'm pretty good to help anyone work out some frustration. I can even call an old marine of mine. He's in command of his own squadron now. He'll have a slew of grunts ready and lined up to take a beating. It's good for them to get the shit knocked out of them occasionally." Leave it to Dad to find a way to lighten the mood.

"Can they all swing like you?" And Carrick for the win.

"I'll let Sawyer know to have someone sent over tonight to keep a watch on the house and to escort you and Brooklynne to the hospital tomorrow morning Elliot." I don't think we should leave them unprotected. I watch Carrick reach for his phone and cock an eyebrow in questions.

"My intern tells me the order has been served to Ms. Williams and there is a copy on the way here as we speak. Can you let your man outside know?" I nod my head in understanding.

Christian is finally startled from his daze by a knock at the door. Turning to the partially open door, I see a grim looking Mia standing in the door way.

"Mia, honey, is everything okay?" Swinging my gaze back to Carrick I see concern etched across his face.

"I think I may have done something bad Daddy." Mia is wringing her hands looking hesitantly at me. Cocking my head at her in a manner I know I picked up from Christian, I wait for her to elaborate. "Ana, I gave away my invitation to the party and had Johnson add someone to the list with it."

"What?!" I explode in a manner befitting a Christian Grey signature roar, even though I had suspected this was the case, I cannot believe she made such a bonehead move. "Did I or did I not explain protocol to you? There is a reason for the invitations and the guests lists. We need security to be tight and after the last fiasco, we need to make sure there is no one admitted that would sell something to the tabloids. Everyone coming to this party will be allowed in my home. I can only allow people that Taylor or myself have personally vetted."

"But that's the thing. You have vetted him. I just thought it was an honest mistake he was left off the list. I mean when I ran into him last week, he explained that you were working together soon. The only reason I felt it would be okay for him to talk to me was because he assured me he signed an NDA already. I called your assistant and she confirmed that he was in fact your editor." I'm so pissed and ready to bitch slap one Mia Grey. She could have told me this yesterday at lunch.

"I don't have an editor yet. I haven't signed with a publishing house officially yet. I'm planning to sign with SIP on Monday, but only after my extensive check on the editor they want to sign me with comes back. I'm hoping to find something I can show old man Roach, so he'll get me a new editor. Jack Hyde is a creep of epic proportions."

"That's the thing, I gave the invitation to Jack Hyde." Mia looks away from all of us, and it seems like she's leaving something out still.

"Mia, I can make sure that Hyde is turned away. I'll talk to Jason and reverify the lists. We'll remove his name."

"His name isn't under Hyde. He said he wanted to surprise you with a gift at the party for signing with SIP. There's more and I'm not sure who's going to be the maddest at me."

"Mia, enough with the evasiveness. Just spit it all out damn it." There's the Christian Grey we all know. His voice thunders in the room and Mia shrinks back a bit.

"The name I put on the list is Arthur Campbell, Christian's new finance guy. I know he's already been vetted. But the bad thing is, I think that Jack Hyde is Leila's boyfriend."

Now Elliot's head finally snaps around to his sister, his eyes boring into Mia. "What do you mean? You're saying that Ana's editor is the man that hurt my little girl?" The anguish evident in his voice is pleading. I'm not sure Elliot wants confirmation or not, though.

"Brooklynne drew me a picture while we were in the kitchen. I think that she'd started it with the social worker. She's fallen asleep now by the way, I have her settled on the couch in the family room." Mia hands me a paper that I never knew was in her clenched hands.

Unfolding the paper, several times I might add, I see the image haunting a scared little girl. The image is detailed further than I would expect from a five-year-old. My guess is this is supposed to be Brook's room at her aunt's home.

"She told me the yellow and pink mess by the bed is her crying. The man on the other side of the door is Jack. The reason I think that the man in the drawing is Jack Hyde is because of the…"

"The scar." I interrupt Mia when I look at the man Brooklynne's drawn. Jack Hyde had a cleft lip as a baby and has a faint scar on the left side of his lip. The man my niece has drawn has a matching scar.

"She said she was sent to her room for asking about his scar." I knew there was something seriously wrong with Jack Hyde.

"Mia, you'll need to be in court on Monday with that photo." Carrick moves back to his desk and reaches for his phone.

Quietly so he's the only one who can hear, I whisper, "Christian, I think that we should head back home. We need to talk to Jason and Luke about this and adjust the security plan for tomorrow night. Plus, I have plans for you before we do that thing we've scheduled for the afternoon before the party." Not wanting to mention the house yet for fear of jinxing us, I try and get Christian home before he explodes and does damage to one of Grace Trevelyan Grey's antiques.

"Let me check in on Brook and we can head home. Say your goodbyes and I'll meet you at the car with your dad and Luke." Christian kisses my forehead before he stalks out of the study.

"Give her a kiss for me. I don't want to bombard her; the others will take care of it soon enough. Come on Dad. Let's find Grace before we make a retreat." Turning to everyone else I add, "We'll see you all tomorrow evening. Mia, don't worry. We'll get it straightened out. Carrick, I'll get you everything I have on the man before you head to the courthouse on Monday."

Dad and I made a quick escape and only waited in the car for five minutes before Christian joined us. I had already filled Luke in. He'll take care of informing Jason and dealing with the Jack issue tomorrow, Reynolds has been called to stay at the Grey house tonight. Spending the car ride back to Escala, I try and plot a way to give Christian his first birthday present tomorrow with my dad in the apartment.


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: I am sorry for how long it has taken to update. November was one of the hardest months I've had yet. My doctors have a few more answers a few less questions, and we are working to find a solution. I've had a good week though, I've not had a tremor in eight days. I'm trying to keep with that pattern as I have a niece getting married this Saturday. This Chapter is really long, I should probably split it, but I want to reward your patience for following me and sticking with me. I am still working on my writer's block with A Submissive Beginning. Grey Vitals has a chapter in process and after this chapter of A Steele Love, Ana and Christian will find and buy their dream home and welcome their friends and family into their home for Christian's birthday party. Lot's of fun and surprises to be had at the party.**

 **Anyway, thanks for sticking with me. I don't own FSoG, but props to EL for giving us a wonderful playground to play on. Also, not beta-ed. All mistakes are completely my own.**

 **Laters**

A Steele Love

Chapter 8

Christian's POV

I am only slightly aware of the rising sun when I am roused from my sleep. Surprisingly, I slept more soundly than I expected to after the previous night's events. It was after ten when we reached Escala last night, and Ana quickly said goodnight to her father before she let me fuck her within an inch of her life. I had a few of my own demons to exorcise last night and she was a more than willing participant.

It is now that I notice the reason for my wakeful state. I certain little brunette is peppering kisses across my chest, and her hair is tickling just a bit. I thread my right hand through her long tresses as my left hand reaches across her back anchoring her to me.

"Good morning Snow White." Ana raises her head and looks at me before she scoots up my body to place a soft and gentle kiss to my lips. Sometimes, I swear her soft pink lips could bring dead men back to life. Good thing I plan for my lips to be the only ones hers ever touch again.

"Good morning my knight. Happy Birthday." I smile, this is the first time I have ever been excited to celebrate my birthday.

"Thank you, baby. As much as I like the position you're in, I have to ask, where is your father and is he going to keep me from my first birthday request?" I want to take her fast and furious this morning before I have to share my day with her with the rest of the world.

"Well I had a present lined up for you for first thing this morning, but my father's presence in the penthouse puts a damper on that, especially since he took a guestroom upstairs last night." She's biting her lip in that insecure and shy way, and now I want to know what that present is.

"What was it?"

"I can't tell you. It was probably a silly idea." She looks down at my chest before she tries to climb off me. That will not do. I roll the two of us over so that she is pinned to the bed beneath me by my hips.

"I can find a creative way to torture it out of you Anastasia." I bring my mouth to her neck, letting my stubble scratch her as I brush my lips across her pulse. I slide my hands down her arms to her wrists and lift them above her head, effectively pinning them in my left hand.

"You do know I'm highly trained by the CIA to withstand torture for information, right? Or did you forget that tidbit?" Christ, why does that turn me on even more?

"I had forgotten, but that just means I need to be more diligent." I punctuate each word with a nip to her skin and a swipe of my tongue to soothe the sting. "Tell me princess, was clothing needed for this present?" I take her earlobe between my teeth as she arches into me.

"You know this isn't really torture, right? I may be inexperienced when it comes to sex, but I can recognize pleasure for what it is."

"You little minx. Maybe I should bring you to the edge over and over only to deny you. Make you beg me to let you come. How long do you think you can hold out before you tell me everything I want to know?" Even I can hear how husky my voice has become. This wasn't my plan for this morning's activities, but I'd be a lying man if I denied it wasn't sounding like a good way to start my birthday. Grinding my hard on against her wet core I wait for her answer.

"If you do that, I can give you the real present I wanted to give you this morning. Of course, I've had to modify things a bit with my father here." I'm brushing my right hand down her cheek and reaching for her breast when she continues. "I wanted you to take me in your playroom today."

My hand immediately stills hearing what she has said. I release her hands and push up from her, our chests no longer touching, my arms stretched so that I'm looming over her. "Why would you want to do that?" Shit, I don't think I hid the bit of contempt from my voice. I've long given up that room and everything in it. Why would she want to do that?

"I want to be everything you need Christian. That room was a part of your life for so long, I wanted to experience it with you. I'm not ever going to be a total submissive, but I've managed to submit when we are in bed together. I rather enjoyed what we did the other night and I wanted to give myself totally to you." She looks completely sincere in her words, but there is something else there. Something that she's not telling me. Either way, I'm going to have to tell her everything.

"That room is empty now. When we decided to buy a house, I decided to sell Escala when we moved. This place holds many ghosts that I would like to leave behind. I had it cleared out last week while we were on the Grace."

"You didn't want to take me in there?" There is disappointment in her voice, but it's clouded with something, hurt maybe. I roll to the side and gather her in my arms, brushing my knuckles up and down her arm.

"No, I didn't want to take you in there. What you and I have is so much more than just domination and submission. What we have is all encompassing. When I was in that room with the fifteen, I was cold and aloof. I didn't speak to them except to give commands. Yes, I provided aftercare, but it was methodical. There was a cold clinical feeling to our interactions outside of the playroom. It's why it was so easy to dismiss them and terminate our contracts whenever a desire for more was expressed." I take a deep breath, this is more than we've ever really talked about this. "Each one of my submissives was dismissed for varying reasons. Only two ever asked to be released from their contracts early. One chose not to renew after the three months. She had met someone else and wanted to try pursuing a vanilla lifestyle with him. I hear they are happily married with a kid on the way. The two who asked to leave early, one was accidentally hurt during a suspension scene, her hair got caught in one of the knots. She felt she wouldn't be able to fully trust me after that. I agreed with her. The other that asked to leave, she was my first contracted submissive. I met her in a club and she helped me with my standard contract. She was an experienced submissive, she liked her dominants to be free with gifts and money as well. I had plenty, so giving her a monthly stipend and buying her a car and clothes was no big deal for me. However, she met Elena at her salon and didn't like that Elena grilled her during her treatments. She was furious that Elena knew she was my sub. Elena tried to give her tips, and she didn't like someone else knowing about the scope of our relationship. Natasha felt that I had violated the terms of our NDA. She was right as well, and I accepted when she voided our contract. Of course, that was when Elena inserted herself more into my life. That's when she started bringing me submissives. I thought that she was looking out for me. It took me a while to see that it was another way to manipulate me." I pull away from the only woman I have ever loved so that I can look her in the eyes while I say this next part.

"Elena, spent years telling me love was for fools. She told me that I couldn't tell anyone about my lifestyle or no one would love me anymore. She knew that the one thing I feared the most, other than being touched, was to be abandoned by those in my life. She convinced me I would lose my family and my company. I could leave GEH and never worry about money again. However, the 40,000 employees will be at risk of losing their jobs and benefits. That is something I will not risk. It's part of the reason why I refuse to institute a board. I don't want to put the lives of my employees in other's hands."

I feel Ana take a deep breath before I hear her voice flit over my ears. "I think I understand."

Threading my hand in her hair, I tilt Ana's head back so that she has to look up at me. She quickly tries to avert her eyes, but I want her to see the truth in my words behind my eyes. "This is it for me Anastasia. You are it. You are my future. Even before I met you, the lifestyle had lost its appeal to me. You have showed me a way to continue on without it. Yes, we play. I enjoy that and you enjoy it too. But, we are not in a Dom and submissive relationship. You let me take charge in the bedroom, but outside of it, we are complete equals. Equals can't punish each other and that is all that room was for me. I was able to punish little brown haired girls who got off on the pain. I was able to exert control in a way that I thought was healthy, but wasn't really. I want to move forward with you. I want to find a home for us that we will be able to build a life in. When the time is right, I plan to marry you. And after a few years of ravishing you and monopolizing all your time, I want to start a family with you. I need you to believe that what we have right now is enough for the rest of our lifetime together. If we never get married and have kids, you will still be enough for me. If you never let me spank your ass rosy pink again, you will still be enough for me. I love you Snow White. Only you."

"Oh Christian." I see the first tear start to fall from her eyes and I know she finally understands. This woman has only been in my life for two months, but I feel like I was living underwater till I met her. "You mean so much to me. I love you. I want all of that with you too. I want all of it."

Looking to the alarm on my night stand I see that we only have a few hours before we need to leave for lunch before we see the house. "We have some time before we need to leave what do you think we should do?"

"I think that I'm going to get dressed and go fix you and my dad some breakfast. Then I think we need to talk with Jason before our other plans. I have a big gift being delivered at noon and I need to check with Sawyer that it's on its way."

"Ana, why do you do that?" She looks a little perplexed as she gets out of the bed. Stuffing me hands behind my head, I stretch out and clarify my question. "Why do you refer to Gail and Jason as such and not as Taylor and Mrs. Taylor, and everyone else is referred to by their last name?"

"I remember Jason from when I was growing up. He knows first hand what happens when I'm called little lady. He learned that on my eighth birthday. Daddy taught me to address the marines by their proper rank and name. However, after I was made to apologize to Jason, he asked me to call him Jason. Deny it all you want, but Gail is a second mother to you, and Jason is the closest you have to a best friend. That makes them family, family is referred to by their names. Sawyer and the rest of the team are just that, the team. Besides, Sawyer knows I only tolerate him."

I watch her pull up her favorite Han Solo leggings and one of my white under shirts. "You like Sawyer, you just like him to cower to you a little bit."

"You're right Christian, but it makes his job easier if I'm not forming a relationship with him. We've finally come to a few agreements, he no longer calls me ma'am and I no longer call him Lucas Scott. I follow Taylor's protocols and Sawyer remembers I carry my own gun and not to call me little. It works for us. Although, he really did like helping me with your birthday present. Even Jason is in the dark about this one. I think letting him help me, helped resolve all our crap from our first week together. Jason and Gail will want to see your present when it's delivered."

There is a twinkle in her eye, and I can't help but laugh at her. I know she wanted to surprise me and I had told Taylor to let her do what she wanted. I just didn't want this party to be a surprise. I don't want any surprises there.

"I am going to shower and then see if I can meet with Jason and some of the team before we leave for lunch. Who do you want to take to the house with us?"

"Whoever Taylor can spare. I won't be picky. I want security tight though. I'll defer to you and him. I have to get moving or Daddy will be bugging Gail and I promised her she needn't come to our side till your delivery was here."

Ana saunters back to the bed and places a chaste kiss to my lips before skipping out of the room.

Damn its good to be me. I really want to know what this delivery is supposed to be though.

Ana's POV

"Annie, excellent grub as always. Want to spend an hour in the gym with me before Christian's present gets here?" I look at my watch and note that it's nearing 10 o'clock. I'll have just enough time to shower and change before Christian's gift gets here.

"Dad, you're not going to be able to beat it out of me. I'm not telling anyone. Sawyer promised to make sure it stayed a surprise and I made a deal with him. I've not discussed this with anyone but him and if he could manage to get it here without anyone else finding out what it is, then he gets a very special bonus. Trust me Dad, I made Sawyer very motivated to keep this a secret. I'm not about to jeopardize it this close to delivery. An hour in the gym sounds good though. Christian do you want to join us?"

I look at my amazing man, sitting next to my dad on the other side of the counter at the bar eating the last of his pancakes and bacon.

"Actually, Taylor is meeting with the team in fifteen minutes and I plan to sit in with them. I had enough time to recount last night's events with him before I smelled the bacon popping. However, Claude is meeting me at the gym tomorrow afternoon if you want to join us."

"Can't, Hannah was in the office on Thursday trying to sync up what she could on my schedule with Andrea and yours. I'm joining on Wednesday though." I pop a strawberry in my mouth as he looks at me.

"Why can't you join me?"

"Yeah Annie, why can't you get your ass handed to you by Christian's Olympic trained kickboxing coach again?"

"For the last time 'Colonel' I didn't get my ass kicked. I'm not a kickboxer and I failed to counter properly before I was on the ground. Christian called a halt to the match before I could knock Claude on his back and beat his face in."

Christian is chuckling. I was ribbed by Sawyer and Ryan for two days over that. Ryan however shut his mouth after I put him down and held him there. "Give it up Ray. You know our girl will never admit defeat. I want to know what you've got better to do though Ana."

"I'm hoping to be in Jerry Roach's office with enough dirt on Hyde to get a new editor assignment and sign a contract with SIP."

"Annie, are you sure you really want to do this?" I can see the concern on my dad's face and I know why it's there.

"No, I don't want to do it. The Agency and the White House all agree that if I want any chance of a normal life, that I have to answer questions. This is the easiest way to do that. I agreed to a small press tour at publication. I'll be doing one late night show interview, three daytime interviews all the week after publication. There will be six book signings, and a dinner at the White House. Then I can leave it all behind me."

"Can you really leave it all behind? You'll still be part of the CIA won't you?" I look at my dad and then look at Christian. I'm not sure what Daddy's trying to get at.

"What do you mean?" But before I can get an answer, we hear a throat closing.

I look past my men and see Jason and Sawyer standing in the living room just behind us.

"Sir, we need to discuss a few things before your delivery." There is a sense of urgency in Jason's voice. It must be a security issue, I try not to let it bother me and stay out of it. If it concerns me personally, they'll let me know. Otherwise, I have to let it go; that's the deal I made with Jason and Christian. They have reign over the personal security. I only insert myself when it directly affects me, like the package on Friday. I handle the security of GEH. Jason only speaks up when something will directly affect our security while in the building.

"Come on Daddy. I need someone to hold the bag steady for me." I add the last dirty dish to the dishwasher and head toward the elevator. Jason and Christian will let Daddy and I ride the elevator down to the Escala gym alone, but I'm sure the minute they're in the office, they send someone down to watch us.

xxxXXXxxx

"Dad, I've told you seven times already. I won't tell you what the gift is. I've worked really hard to pull this off, and believe me, Christian is going to be shocked. Once he realizes I didn't use the joint account he set up, he's going to be livid though."

"What did you do buy him a new helicopter?" Close.

"And dethrone his beloved Charlie Tango. No way. He loves that Eurocopter almost as much as he loves me. But I did spend just over a million." I watch dad flinch. He has money, he's been smart with the investments he made. Mom could have made a fortune in the divorce if she hadn't been cheating. "I have the money, just sitting in the bank. I wanted to do this. For the first time, I have someone to spend it on. I've not worked so hard the last ten years so that I can live a frugal life and leave it all in the bank."

"That's a chunk of money, but when you have the money that you and Christian do, I guess it's nothing to spend it." Dad just shrugs and walks to the weight station and picks up a couple of dumb bells. Taking a huge drink of water, I follow him leaving the hanging bag behind.

"It's not nothing Dad. But, it is something that will make him extremely happy and show him that I do care. I know he knows that I care, but I want to show him that I also listen. It's something that he's wanted since he was a little kid." I think about the conversation we had a week after we returned from the Maldives. That was a wonderful lazy afternoon spent in the media room.

"Honey, you could buy a new dress and tell him that you were his gift and he'd be deliriously happy." My dad winks at me and it is so strange for this conversation to be headed this way. "Annie, I'm not an idiot, you live with the man. After last night, I'm sure he's thinking babies as well. That requires sex. Now tell me how you feel about the baby issue."

I watch Dad lift the fifteen-pound weight and proceed to preform a rep of drag curls. I grab a twenty-pound kettlebell and use it while doing a rep of squats next to him. "I want kids with him. I'm not sure that I want them right now. I know that once we make the decision to have them I have to leave the agency completely. I can't have the risks with kids. Right now, I'm only on call in the case of a national emergency and travel keeps me within the country. I can't do undercover work anymore. I'm just thankful my code name never got out. As far as the world knows, the Blacksmith is still out there and should still be feared. The day I'm connected to that name though, I'm dead and so is my family."

Dad does another rep and then sets the dumbbells down to take a drink of his own water bottle. With a sigh he turns to me, "Annie, I don't think you'll ever be out the game completely. You could get a call in ten years after having three kids and if Finn told you that there was an issue they needed your skills for and that only you could help them, you would. Don't bother denying it, that only makes you an ass."

I do three more squats before I stand up straight and look at dad. "I know that Dad. I've been thinking about it a lot. What I've done has been for the good of the world, not just our country. I've saved hundreds from planned terrorist plots. I've saved our allies billions, and made millions in the process. My company isn't that important to me. I'm satisfied with what I'm doing at GEH, all their subsidiaries and networks keeps me busy. But I can admit, I like the adrenaline rush from a hack where I'm racing against the clock. What you saw in New York, that's the sort of thing that gives me a rush. I love doing that. But I can't do that sort of thing with a family, and I've made the decision to step back."

"Annie, why do I get the idea that there's more to what you're saying?" Dad picks his dumbbells back up and turns back to the mirrored wall and goes back to his curls.

Grabbing the kettlebell again and going back to my squats I try to gather the words to say what I've yet to say to the love of my life. "I'm planning to tell Finn to take a hike the minute I finish my press tour. I've made him a big player in the agency because of my work. I'm certain that he is indirectly responsible for my outing. He has a habit of bragging, and he's been pushing me to do overseas work. He called at the beginning of the week asking me if I'd go to London. When I asked what the mission was and who would be with me, I was given a lame excuse and vague details. I did some digging. Any NSA or CIA agent could do what he wanted me to do. He just wanted to be able to gain the favor of MI6."

"Was it something dangerous? What did Christian say? I can't believe he would want you going overseas without him." Dad keeps working his arms and doesn't look at me when he talks, paying attention to his form while he lifts.

"It wasn't dangerous in the sense of I could die. The goal was to get access to the networks and plant bugs on a man suspected of leading an organized crime family. The man is 34 and single and Finn wanted me to sweet talk myself into his bedroom, drug him and then clone his phone and computers and plant the bugs for them. I didn't tell Christian either. I said no immediately and didn't see the point in telling him what Finn wanted. He already dislikes my handler, I don't need him going into a possessive rage when he sees him again."

"I see. I'm glad you turned it down. Is that the sort of thing you've done before?" I try and think if there is a hidden question in there. I'm sure he is asking me something, but not saying it.

"No, I've never done anything like that. I've flirted at a party a couple times, but being three feet from a target allowed me to clone a cell phone with a device I helped design. I only need to be in the same town to hack almost any network. Hell, I've hacked the Pentagon from Tokyo before when I needed some information. I've only needed to be inside the building once. I posed a foreign exchange student for a week in Milan. The third day of my work study, I was in the network I needed to be in. I reverted back to myself the next day and toured the city. Its where I found my love of a good fitted dress." That was one of my more fun missions. It was also during spring break my junior year and I loved the disguise I had. I entered Italy as Amelia Crestwood, blonde bubbly exchange student from Duke university. I left with two extra suitcases of clothes and shoes as Sara Stone, one of my aliases, a red headed bookworm. I toured Milan for three days as Ana Steele and it was wonderful.

"So, what are you plans after the press tour baby doll?" Dad hasn't called my baby doll in years. There is a layer of concern laced in his question.

"To build a life with Christian." I set the kettle bell down in it's proper place, grab my towel to wipe my sweat and my bottle of water. Taking two swallows before I continue, I watch dad place his dumbbells back on the rack. "I don't know when Christian plans to propose, but I know he will. I want to be able to tell him that my life is devoted to building something here with him, in Seattle. I don't want to share my life with him with the agency. The sooner I'm out, the better. I want kids, but I don't want to be pregnant before the end of the year."

Twisting my towel and placing it around my neck, I look at my dad and tell him how serious I am. "We're going to look at a house today. Right after he gets his present. I'm taking him to lunch and then we're going to look at what I hope will be the home we raise our kids in. I want it to be the place we where we rock our grandbabies. Don't tell anyone that though, we don't want to jinx it. I want to be with Christian for life. I'll wait for him to ask me to marry him, and then we'll decide when we want to have children. Until then, my IUD will stay in place."

"IUD, I thought you had been taking the pill for all those other reasons when you first came back." Dad remembers the horrible cramps and bleeding I had when I first came home. He took me to the doctor and after a diagnosis of Mittelschemrz, I was placed on the pill. Can't have ovulation pains if you're not ovulating.

"After the incident in Egypt, a doctor with the agency suggested the IUD. Its not permanent, but it works for five years and once it's placed, I don't have to worry about it again till five years later. It was suggested that if I ended up in a hostage situation again, I might not be rescued in time to prevent the usual treatment of women." I hope that dad gets the underlying meaning. I don't want to say the words out loud. I don't want to tell him that the psychiatrist suggested a better way of preventing a pregnancy caused by rape. "The middle east really doesn't think much of women. To them we are only good for cooking, cleaning. There is no such thing as saying no to sex there. They think it's their right to take what they want.

"Ahh." Dad rubs his hand behind his neck. "I think that I get what you're saying. Now I'm even more grateful you've decided to quit the agency."

I decide I've had enough of the gym, a look at my watch tells me I've got an hour and fifteen minutes before my delivery arrives.

"Come on dad, lets go get cleaned up. I don't know what you're plans are for the afternoon, but we should be back around 4:30 or 5 o'clock." We proceed to leave the gym and head to the elevator, Ryan right behind us.

"So Annie, you going to tell me what you promised Sawyer in exchange for his help with this surprise?" Dad's got a twinkle in his eye and I look at Ryan when I tell dad what I promised.

"Sawyer gets half an hour with me on the mats. And I will have one arm secured behind my back. Straight up hand to hand combat. He'll have the advantage, and I'm guaranteed a soak in an Epsom salt bath." Ryan's eyes widen and I know he wants that chance. I've knocked him down so many times, I know that he wants to retaliate.

"Christian's going to fire the poor boy after you two are done if there is one bruise on you." Dad is shaking his head in a disapproving manor.

"I won't let that happen. Frankly I need to the handicapped training. I also need to practice sparring blindfolded. Just because I'm not doing the undercover and field work doesn't mean that I can slack off and let my defenses down."

"Actually, I think that the man behind us and the rest of his teammates mean that you can drop some of your defenses." Leave it to dad to find a way to stress the importance of the CPOs and his desire for me to leave a life as an operative behind.

"I know Dad." I say no more as I watch the elevator doors open to the penthouse and exit the elevator.

Jason's POV

"Sir, we got the preliminary files back on SIP. Are you sure you want to do this without Ana?" When he was convinced Ana was going to pick SIP last week he decided he was going to buy the place. Now we've got 100 backgrounds to go over and personnel files to go through before he walks into their building on Wednesday. We had to promise Griffin tickets to see a Mariners game along with a meet and greet in the locker room to get him to do this without telling Ana. She'll get a history of his checks next week, but hopefully the boss man will have told her about it before then.

"What do you have Taylor?" Mr. Grey has started calling me Jason when it's just us, but when there are other members of my team with us we try to stay formal.

"Hyde has had 15 assistants in the last 4 years. None of them have lasted longer than 3 months. All of them female and none of them gave a reason for leaving. Only one was fired. According to her file, she was found to be having a relationship with a co-worker and was dismissed according to office policy." The report in her file didn't name the co-worker and we haven't found another dismissed for this reason.

"I want to talk to that woman. Something is wrong there. What else is there?" Laser focus that man. I pull a folder from a tray and hand it to him.

"That is the reports that my men have handed in on Leila Williams. We have someone on her and 24 hours a day. No one has seen a man coming and going. If he's there, he's entering and exiting the house when Leila isn't at the house. Starting today, there will be a second man on the house to watch when she leaves." Listening to Sawyer and Christian this morning tell me what had transpired the night before pissed me the hell off. I don't take kindly to abuse and I wanted to send a man to take care of Hyde immediately, but I was ordered not to. Then I was pissed I wasn't informed last night. I know that Christian and Ana are trying to let me have more of a family life with Gail, but I hate that things aren't reported to me immediately. Then again, no one could have pulled me away from Gail and our bed last night, and the kitchen table, and the shower this morning. Shit, now I want my wife again.

"What about the package from Friday?" That one is head scratcher.

"I don't have anything for you yet sir. Griffin set a few checks to run before we left, but we won't get those back till tomorrow afternoon. 48 hours remember." I honestly don't want to think about those photos from Friday. Seeing Ana like that. Poor Gail, I had to leave her in the apartment and go to the gym with Ray to box off a little steam.

"We need to discuss security for tonight." Thank you, sir. I don't want to linger on Friday.

"Sir, we've gone back over the guest list. Some of Johnson's privileges have been revoked. We removed his addition to the guestlist. We had four RSVP that did not include the name of their plus one. Those people are being called by Prescott as we speak. If they do not provide the names they won't be allowed into the penthouse." This guest list was a fuck load of trouble to deal with. Ana wanted things secure and I've been dealing with Miss Mia Grey trying to add to it for weeks.

"What are the protocols coming in?"

I look around the room, everyone on our security team except the men I have on Williams and Hyde is in this room.

"The florist will arrive at 4 o'clock to deliver the flowers Miss Steele ordered. Gail will be here to take care of them. At 5 o'clock the caterers will be arriving. They have all been vetted and have been warned that all equipment will be inspected. Any changes to their staff will be refused entry to the penthouse. Ana was very specific about not letting in anyone that hasn't been previously vetted. We have pictures of each member working the party to verify identity. Reynolds will be seeing to them when they arrive at the service elevator. Because of the size of the event, we've brought in extra GEH security." I pick up another folder and hand to Christian before I talk about the reinforcements I've brought in.

"Tommy Waters has been at Grey House for two years. He will be assisting Reynolds at the service elevator for the event. His priority before the event is to ensure that none of the staff coming in have cell phones on them. They've all signed NDAs and agreed to turn over their cells during the party."

"I've met with Waters before, he's a good kid, young and not your usual former military find." Christian looks at me over his folder.

He's right, Waters was not former military and he is only 22 right now. He was a breakout football star for the University of Oklahoma. His sophomore year there was a fight on the field and he was in the middle of it trying to break it up. A member from the opposing team yanked his helmet off and threw him to the ground. He suffered a few kicks to the head that put him in a coma for six days. His football career was over. He switched to a criminal justice focus and transferred to U-Dub that spring. His mother is an executive in the marketing department here. I met Waters by chance when he came to have lunch with her one day. A conversation with the two of them and I hired him part time on the spot. He's been full time with us since his graduation last year.

"Ryan will be in the main lobby of building when it is time for guests to arrive. He will be the first point of contact and will verify guests' identification and invitations. He will be assisted by Simone Ellis. She's been at GEH for seven months. This will be her first foray into the field so to speak." I don't say more out loud because he can read her background in the folder. Ellis was former Chicago PD and moved back to Seattle a year ago to care for her ailing mother. She's a lucky find, she spent her last three years in Chicago on their intelligence unit.

"Barnett will be covering the entry into the Penthouse with Kenny Becker. Becker has been a video man at GEH for three years. He's asked to move more into CPO territory and this his trial run. I've promised to try him out with the personal security team if he could pass all the physical requirements. He not only beat out the times on the course for half the current team, he's almost as good a marksman as Ana is." Becker was a surprise when he came to me three months ago asking to move over. I've had him shadowing Barnett since.

"Johnson is staying on Williams for the duration of the party. We believe that Hyde is there with her, there was no sign of him at his house, but I have a guy from GEH on his residence in case he resurfaces."

"Taylor, who is working inside the party? I don't expect any trouble, but I've made Ana promise not to carry during the party. I've got to get her out of the habit when we're are in our own home. Someone needs to be on her the entire time. Who is her Shadow?"

"Prescott will be Ana's shadow during the party. Sawyer and I will be circulating and rotating, keeping an eye on you and your guests. We've got two from GEH helping with that, Ben Nash and Grady Fowler. Jessie Garcia will be at the top of the stairs to ensure no one ventures into restricted territory. Noah Curtis will be doing the same for the restricted rooms downstairs. Lester Gibson will be monitoring the video feeds from my office." I look over Christian's head and watch each member of the team I've brought in for this event. It's extensive and if he and Ana buy the house in Hunt's point, we're going to need to bring many of them to the personal security side. I've already got a list of names that I need Ana to start running next week to add to the GEH team as replacements.

"This is good work Taylor. You've assembled a good team. I know that each one has been vetted by Ana and Griffin, so that is good enough for me. We're going to look at the house at Hunt's point at 2. She's got something up her sleeve with Sawyer going down at noon. From there we're going to lunch at RN74. I'll be driving the R8. We shouldn't need more than two."

I look at the team and I decide to send one of the newbies out with them. "Sawyer will go with Ellis. They'll follow behind and stay discreet."

"All right Taylor, I appreciate all you and your team have done for tonight. I've never entertained like this and with me partnering with Ana like I have, we're going to have to move into the more hospitable side of business. Tonight is for pleasure, for the first time in my life, I'm excited to celebrate my birthday. However, this doesn't mean that I won't yell at the first bastard that messes up whatever plans Ana has for today." Christian looks to each member of the team as he makes his declaration. "In the coming months, Ana and I will be renovating a home and preparing to move. You have been entrusted with protecting us tonight. When we move, we'll need more of you to protect our home. I don't like change much, but I see these coming changes as nothing but good things. It could mean good things for you if tonight goes as planned. If there are any issues, I expect they be handled before my girl knows. She'll want a debrief after the event, that will be the time to tell her if there was anything wrong throughout the night. Also, if anyone tries to get in, paparazzi included, don't be afraid to call the police for help removing them from the building. The Chief has already ensured their help if we need it."

"Gentlemen, ladies, you have your marching orders, you are all dismissed until 3 o'clock unless you've been otherwise assigned." I watch them all file out. Sawyer and Ellis will stay close to follow at noon. Reynolds is sticking around to keep an eye out on the service elevator.

We'll see just how much of a team we are. A party of 60, and all this security plus the staff that has been hired. We should have 85 in the penthouse tonight. Gail will be coordinating to move the furniture around in the great room to add a few sitting areas that she's arranged, but also to make room for the guests to dance. The dining table is being disassembled and moved and stored for the party to make room for the buffet tables the caterers will set up.

Tonight is a test.

Christian POV

"Ana, how long before my surprise gets here?" I watch Ana add some mascara and it's all I can do not to bend her over the bathroom counter.

She straightens up and I groan watching the way those white short shorts she's wearing sit on her ass. If she bends over too far, you'll see the bottom of her delectable cheeks poking out. The red flowy top she's wearing is sexy as hell as well. She's pointed out already that with the shorts she has to wear the corset holster so she's not without her beloved pistol, The Punisher. A pair of beige and white sandals and a necklace around her neck. I know the necklace has a tracker in it, she's already instructed me to wear the tracker bracelet she gave me the first time I met her CIA team.

"Sawyer will be texting me any minute. You just make sure you have everything you need for the afternoon. Once we arrive in the garage, we will not be coming back up. Dad's staying to help Gail, but he's asked to see the gift." I chuckle, she's literally bouncing where she stands with her phone gripped in her hand. "Come on, we'll go see what Gail is up to so we don't start something we can't finish."

Ana immediately grabs her bag for the afternoon and saunters out the bedroom. I love watching that woman walk, actually I love watching that ass of hers twitch.

"Snow White." I'm trying to catch up with her so I can smother her mouth with mine, but by the time I get to her she's already engaged in conversation with her father and Gail.

"We're having lunch at this place I've never been to. I told Christian he could make the arrangements for lunch and this place is supposed to have a month long waiting list." Ana sounds so excited for today. Her enthusiasm is rubbing off that's for sure. I've never enjoyed birthdays, but this is turning out to be the best.

"Sounds like you two will have fun this afternoon Annie. What are you doing after lunch before you come back here? Gail told me she's been ensured you'll leave her alone this afternoon to prepare the place." Have I ever said that I love that Ray is so accepting of me and comfortable around here like he is? I need to make sure Ana and I make time to see him more often.

"What we're doing after lunch is a secret till the party. We don't want to jinx our good luck just yet. We'll tell you all about it when we get back." I smack a kiss on the top of Ana's head as a slide a hand around her hip and join her with Ray and Gail.

"Christian, are you ready?" She has a glint her eye and a bit of mischief hiding behind her smile.

"Yes I'm ready. Do I get my surprise now?" I can't wait. I love how excited she is. My controlling nature doesn't usually allow for surprises in my life, but I'm excited for this one.

Ana looks like she's about to say something, but then I hear the beep tone of her iPhone. She gives it a quick glance and her smile spreads even further on her face. "Let's go people. It's time."

We get to the elevator and as it opens, there is Sawyer waiting for us. "Taylor and Ellis are taking the service elevator and will meet us down there. Ana, we still have a deal?" What deal did she have with Sawyer, he looks ready to pounce and I'm not sure I like it.

"Yes, you have a deal Sawyer, but Dad says you have to wait so that he can be here to record my demise." What the hell?

"Oh, I don't think that Sawyer will be your demise. I do think that your ego will take a blow. And I can't wait to watch him knock you off your high horse." Ray is chuckling and I'm getting pissed with all the ideas running through my head.

"What. Was. The. Deal?" I ground out through clenched teeth. This elevator seems smaller the further we descend toward the garage.

"I promised Sawyer a sparring match, no pads and I'll have one hand tied behind my back." Ana says so blasé and it irritates me.

"Absolutely not. You'll be hurt and I won't allow it Snow White." I tighten my grip in her hips, pulling her close to me. "You promised not to purposely put yourself in harm's way."

"I won't be in harm, it's a sparring match. He has a 30-minute time limit. You promised not to ever interfere with my training. I need to work on how to over power while I'm at a disadvantage. I won't make it easy for Sawyer." She turns and places a chaste kiss on my cheek just as the elevator doors ding. "Close your eyes baby."

Following her instructions, we stay still for a moment and I listen to the others exit the elevator. "Alright, just follow my lead, keep your eyes closed."

We walk out the elevator and I count the steps. When we reach twenty-two she stops me. "I love you and I want to give you the world. Right now though, I'm giving you something I know you've wanted for a long time. Open your eyes and promise me you'll remember to lock the garage."

Huh?! Opening my eyes, I stare in wonder. My god, what has she done? It's beautiful. "Ana, is this what I think it is? Is this really my car now or is this one of those movie car rentals?"

"This is your very own 1961 Ferrari 250GT California Convertible. Less than a hundred ever made. This one had 627 miles on it. It's been mostly on display. When I found it, the car was painted green, I had it repainted cherry red for you and the upholstery redone to a butter leather. The radio has also been updated so that you can plug in your phone and listen to your playlist. The top is also brand new and treated so that it won't ruin in the rainy Seattle weather." I listen to each word out of her mouth and can't seem to close my own. I am awed by this woman.

"You bought me Ferris Bueller's car?"

"Actually Christian, I bought you Cameron's dad's car. Like I said, please remember to lock the garage. Ready to take it for a spin?"

God, I love this woman.

 **A/N: In 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' Ferris and his friend Cameron take Cameron's dad's car out for their day in town with Ferris's girlfriend Sloane. When Ferris sees the car in the garage, Cameron gives him all the details about what kind of car it is and how long his dad spent restoring and why they shouldn't take it out. Ferris's response was "It's his fault he didn't lock the garage."**


	10. Chapter 9

1/16/18

 **A/N: I'm sorry for the long delay in posting. I'm currently in the middle of Grey Vitals and hope to have a chapter posted before the end of the week. I've finally figured out how to wrap up Submissive beginning, but I'm going to wait to post the remaining chapters till it's complete.**

 **I have a one shot in the works, but I don't know if I want to wait until Submissive Beginning is done before I post it or not. It's almost complete. I also have the first chapter of a new story that I have yet to title. Leave a review and let me know what you want to see, or if I should wait to post new material or not. I don't want people thinking I don't finish things. I know my posting has been irregular, but I'm hoping that in the coming weeks that will be corrected.**

 **My doctors have answers and finally have a treatment plan in place. I've had to accept that my thirty something body just isn't as young as it once was. However, I am still coming to terms with the fact that my health issues could have been prevented or resolved before deteriorating to the state that they are if some had paid attention to my medical files over the last six years. We are thankful that we have options now, and are not facing something as terrible as MS. I can live a life with medication and a cane. The fact that a wheelchair isn't a forgone conclusion in my future leaves up happy and hopeful.**

 **I've decided to start dating my chapters so that I can just keep an awareness between posting and hold myself accountable. However, I need you all to encourage me and keep after me. Post your reviews, good or bad. Just please don't tell me how my story isn't realistic. I'm writing fan fiction, not my autobiography.**

 **Pinterest Boards will be updated tonight. I haven't been as active on Facebook, but I'm almost always on Pinterest. Right now, I'm dressing everyone for the party and decorating Ana and Christian's house. I've also found inspiration for a few future characters that I know I'm going to love and I hope everyone else does to. However, there is a set that won't come during this story most likely. They have aa story to tell and I want their introduction to be as organic as possible. I don't want them to be plot devices to hook you in.**

 **Anyway, here's the standard dribble. Not my characters, I don't own FSOG. Blah Blah Blah, thankful to have an outlet. Mistakes are mine. Not beta-ed. You know the spiel. Oh and this is a long one. Like 7700 words long. Christian's party starts with the next chapter.**

 **Laters and enjoy**

* * *

 _ **A Steele Love**_

 **Chapter 9**

Christian's POV

"Reservation for Grey." The little blonde hostess behind the stand won't stop staring and Ana is about to lose her patience. When I called and booked a table at this place, it seemed like the perfect solution. We want to be able to go out as normally as we can. Going somewhere that I don't own helps with that. However, telling them we need two tables not necessarily next to each other, but within sight of the other, seemed like a huge request for a place not half full on a weekend at the lunch hour.

"Of course, sir. Right this way." I watch her grab a couple of menus and then we follow behind her to the booth. Sawyer and the new girl, Ellis, are right behind us. When the hostess stops in front of a half circle booth, I nod my agreement to this placement. She drops the menus on the table and then shows our security to a table caddy corner from us.

"I'm sorry Snow White. I'm not sure what that woman's problem is." It's a lie, I know what her problem is. She was batting her eyes and trying to hike her skirt up the minute she saw us walk in the door. She's completely ignored the woman on my arm and became rude when Ana had to prompt her into doing her job.

"Sure you don't, it's just a pretty face right?" Her half smile shows me she knows exactly what is going on. "I love you Christian. I might not be used to all the attention, but you are. I'm guessing women acted like that before you and I met. They are going to keep acting like. You're the ultimate fantasy to women. Before, you were an unattainable fantasy. Now that the whole of Seattle knows that we're together, women think that you're attainable. They're going to be looking to turn your head and try to steal you away. Luckily for me, these women don't know you as well as I do and they don't just how faithful you are. I'm not worried, you shouldn't be either." By gods, this woman is perfect.

"I love you. Let's find our waiter and get to eating we've got an hour before we need to head to the house to meet with Ms. Kelly." Getting the attention of our waiter, we order steak with arugula salads and seasoned veggies. Ana asks for Lemon water and I asked for the same. No need to take unnecessary risks while driving that beautiful car she gifted me.

"So, baby, what are you hoping for when we get to the house?" Her question seems innocent, but if I know my girl, it's anything but.

"I'm hoping it's the only house we have to look at. The pictures weren't as complete as I had hoped, but I liked what I saw. What about you?"

Taking a sip of her water, I watch Ana's throat work before she answers. "I want it to be the only house we look at as well. But I also want to be able to ascertain what security upgrades we will need to make. I've got a notepad in my purse and I plan to make a few notes to discuss with Elliot and Jason tomorrow sometime if we decide to place an offer. I assume we'll be paying cash. That should get us in there faster and allow us to start plans before closing is final."

"I only have to make one phone call to complete the transaction. I prefer not to mortgage any of my properties." Ana's arch eyebrow shows me I've mis-stepped and I'm not sure what I've done.

"We'll need to make two phone calls. I plan to pay for half of the home as well. We're in this together." The hard look on her face lets me know that she plans to dig her heels in on this.

"Ana, I can afford this property ten times over, including all the upgrade and renovations costs. I've got this."

"I know exactly how much you're worth Christian, I probably know more accurately than you do. But we're a partnership Christian. We do this together. I agreed weeks ago to stop complaining about the splurging you do when it comes to gifting things to me. This is not a gift. This is our life together. We do this fifty-fifty." I watch Ana nod to the waiter that has finally delivered our meals.

"How about I make a deal with you? Tomorrow we'll get the bank to set up a joint account. We can each deposit the full amount for the house and then it will be the both of us paying for the house and all it's renovations." I try for nonchalance while slicing my steak and taking a bite.

"You think you're so smart don't you? I asked about a joint account for home expenses the week I moved into Escala and you shot me down." Ana proceeds to eat her vegetables with a raised eyebrow. She did have a point though. I was adamant about taking care of her. Ana can be independent to a fault but a talk with Flynn helped us both work through it pretty well. She understands my need to take care of those I love in a way I wasn't able to take care of my birth mother. Flynn tells me each week she's a better therapist for me than he ever was as it seems I've made more promise with her in the last two months than I did with him in six years.

"So maybe you were right. We want to be in this together, then we have to do it as partners. We'll use the joint account for all our personal home expenses, including utilities and such. We'll start with a large transfer to cover the cost of the home and renovations and a reserve. Each month we'll each make a deposit to cover the expenses for maintaining the home. We'll get it all worked out before the end of the week. Now tell me what you're hoping to see when we get to the point." I hope that she lets this go. I don't want a fight on my birthday, but I can almost see the gleam in her eye that tells me there will be a fight in our future about this.

"I want to be able to see us growing old there. The photos showed us the main rooms, it's the extra spaces I want to see, plus the grounds. If we like it, I say we place our offer this afternoon, Taylor will need to see the place as soon as possible to assess security risks. I'll try my best to only insert myself into that business if he asks me for my help. I want to set up a time with Elliot to look at the place this week as well. There is so much going on all at once, and I just want us to take the time today to make sure this is the place we want. I don't want us to rush into it. It's only the first place we are looking at, we don't have to buy this place if we don't like it. We're also both hella rich and can change anything we don't like. If it's meant to be home, it will be because we make it so." Eating the last bite of her steak Ana looks at me and I can't help being lost in her eyes. Those eyes are what drew me to her the first time.

"Come on, lets find the waiter and get out of here." I flag down our waiter and ask for the check. Dropping enough money onto the table to cover our tab as well a large tip, I hold my hand out to Ana to help her out of the booth and kiss her cheek. "I love you."

"I know you do. Now let's go see if this is our future home." Ana winks at me as she starts to weave between the tables toward the door. I love this woman more than anything.

* * *

Ana's POV

"This place is perfect Christian. We have to place our offer today. I want to hear about it before it's listed tomorrow." I take a moment to look at my note pad. We left Miss Kelly somewhere downstairs and I've been taking in every room.

"You love this place so much that you've made three pages of notes to discuss with Elliot?" I can see the mirth in his silver eyes and I can't hide my smile.

"Taking notes now will make talking to Elliot later on about what we want easier. We're going to need a designer though. This place is to big to go through samples and catalogues on our own for each room." I don't know why he's surprised. He knows I love to make a list and my little yellow pads are always covered in them.

"Elliot should have a designer on staff, if not Andrea can get the name of the woman who did Escala and the Aspen house." Christian has a look that I can't decipher, and I know there is a story there, I'll figure it out later though.

"As long as this gal knows I don't want white furniture in every room or to turn this place in to a museum gallery we should be good." I love being at Escala with Christian, but it's decorated very clinically. Our bedroom and offices are the only places with any feel of home really.

"We'll do this however you want Snow White." Christian slides an arm around my waist and I can't help but smile brighter. We're really going to do this. "Come, lets go look around outside and then find Ms. Kelly so we can have her make an offer for us."

I follow Christian back down the stairs and out the back doors off the kitchen. "I want to expand the patio back here. It's not large enough to host family barbeques like dad does right now. I may not be able to do more than reheat mac-n-cheese in the kitchen, but I can grill a steak and hamburgers like dad. I want to be able to do that out here. Especially with the pool right there." I make a note on my little yellow pad that he hates and smile.

"What else?" I've got my pen ready, he's only made a few suggestions here and there, so I'm happy to list what he wants now.

"I want a boathouse at the end of the dock down there. I'm not sure how feasible it would be to move The Grace to the lake and dock here. I may just have get a smaller boat to dock here, but I want to be able to sail out on our own from here if we want. I'll have to talk to Mac and maybe dad about it." He's got this look and I'm pretty sure he'll be getting a new boat no matter what at this point.

"Alright, boathouse and probable new boat. What about the gardens? I don't have a green thumb, but we can always get a gardener, right?" I tend to kill almost anything that requires more than water once a week and a sunny window.

"Yes, we can get a gardener. I like the gazebo in the middle and I would like to see this place blossom and twinkle at night for a romantic dinner for two." Oh shit, he's got that look. I either have to calm him down or find a secluded corner and let him destroy yet another pair of panties.

"Okay, garden check. We decided the corner of the house where the study is a good place to have the security wing built out. It'll connect to the attached garage area and the two bedrooms above it will be perfect for guests. I think we're all good. Let's go make an offer." I'm so happy right now. I know it will take a while for the renovations to be done that we want, but I can't wait to move into this house. Secretly though, I hope that we're officially a family, or have taken steps to become a family before we move in by then. I will not be one of those girls that starts hoping for an engagement ring around every corner and special occasion. I mean it's only been two months it's too early, right?

Walking back into the house we find Miss Kelly on her phone in the family room pacing. I try and get Christian to stop so that I can hear what she's saying, but it's no use. "We're ready to make an offer Miss Kelly."

I hear her tell whoever she's on the phone with that she's got to go. "I have all the paperwork in the kitchen, I just need an amount, the name of the loan company and a few signatures and we can have your offer submitted within the hour." She purposefully strides back toward the breakfast bar where she's left her briefcase and Christian and I follow behind her.

"Actually Miss Kelly, Christian and I will be making a cash offer. We'll offer the full asking price if the seller pays closing costs and we can complete the transaction by the end of the week. I want to be able to bring my contractor in before this week as well as my head of security to go over the place. Will any of this be a problem?" I love when Christian goes into Dom CEO mode. It's sexy as hell.

"N-n-no Mr. Grey, I'll need the account number to complete the transaction, but that can wait until the offer has been accepted. I'll call the owners and should have an answer in a few hours for you. I'm sure that they will accept, they're quite motivated." Of course they're motivated, the couple built this place just fifteen years ago and now they're in the middle of a nasty divorce. Mr. Brandon Carlton can't finalize his divorce to his diamond heiress wife Angelina Adenauer until this house is sold. Their prenup was ironclad and his pregnant 22-year-old mistress means he only gets a cash settlement after the home is sold, and it's only half of what he'd have gotten if he kept it in his pants. It helps to do your homework.

"Miss Kelly, call my office tomorrow and talk to my P.A. Andrea Parker. She'll help you with the accounts. I expect an answer to the offer tonight though." Christian grabs my hand and strides to the front door.

"This place will be ours before Friday Ana. We should celebrate, but I fear we don't have much time before we need to return to the penthouse and get ready for the party. Let's take a drive down the 405. I feel like testing Sawyer. If he can keep up, I'll let him keep his match with you. If I make it back to Escala without him, he can kiss my ass." Christian is laughing to himself and I know Sawyer heard him. I simply lower my sunglasses as we get ready to enter the car.

"Are you gonna talk to Elliot about the house tonight? It's technically not work related for you." I had made everyone promise no work talk tonight. Part of the NDAs I sent with the invitations has a clause stating that birthday boy was not to be approached for business.

"You're right it's not work related for me, but it is for Elliot. I'll tell him we want to meet with him this week. Jason can come straight over tomorrow after we get to Grey house. We're really doing this aren't we?" His smile is broad as he hits the gas on the freeway, leaving Sawyer in his dust and struggling to catch up.

* * *

 **Mia's POV**

"Come on Elliot, you can't be like that. I said I was sorry last night. How was I supposed to know the man was a bad dude if no one else did?" I can't believe he won't let me take Brooklynne shopping with me.

"That's not the point Mia. You had no idea who the man was and you convinced a member of Christian and Ana's security team to help you. You took the man at his word. He had no proof that he was in fact connected to Ana the way he claimed. You arranged for a man that was unknown to them to enter their home. Now I'm done on the subject. I'm taking Brook to Macy's to get a new outfit for tonight. I don't care how much time you spent shopping for her, I'm not putting a $300 dress on a five-year-old. Besides, do you know how hard it was to get her to take off her converse last night before we came over here. I assure you, Brooklynne will never be your little dress up doll. She would rather spend her day on a construction site with me than playing princess tea party." Elliot's got a vein popping and I really don't want him mad at me, well more than he already is, but this is my niece and she needs my female guidance.

"Elliot, you know nothing about girls, let me help you." They can't keep punishing me. I didn't know these things. I know Ana has tried to explain the basics of security to me, but really what's the real danger? I think Christian is just way to jealous and possessive and doesn't want competition for Ana's affections. I also think he just doesn't want to risk someone else being able to flirt with her.

"Mia, I've spent the last six months getting to know my daughter. I may not know a lot about girls, but I know my daughter. Tomorrow she's skipping school. Ana has asked to take her to GEH in the morning while I'm at court with Dad. When we get done I'm taking her to lunch and then to work with me. She's been begging to see where I work. I actually ordered her a purple hard hat with her name last month. It's been sitting in my office for a week waiting for her to come to work with me." Really, he's going to take her to a construction site?

"I can watch her for you tomorrow. I promise not to take her shopping. Well not for clothes anyway. I can take her to get her nails done and maybe go to the bookstore down the road from Christian's office. I hear it has a pretty good children's section." I can also go to the mall and take her to the Disney store.

"No Mia. I promise I will get you some time with her later this week, but it will be with security, so you won't be sneaking her anymore clothes. Now I need to get to Macy's and back so we can't get ready for the party. She wants to pick out something herself for her uncle and I promised she could. I also need to find clothes for her for the rest of the week." What is wrong with what I bought her?

"Elliot, I have a closet full of clothes upstairs for her. Why can't she wear those?" I don't understand what is wrong with them. I thought she would like them.

"Mia, I want you to spend some time with her this week at the condo when she gets out of school. You'll understand why those clothes won't do for her. Anyway, she can wear those clothes when she's here, but she won't want to wear them all the time. You only bought dresses, pajamas, and swimsuits. Wanna know a secret?" Elliot's rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly that reminds me of when Christian runs his hands through his hair.

"Of course. I want to know everything about her. I want her to love me and see me a friend as well as her aunt." It's true. I want her to be close with me. I didn't really have aunts growing up and it would have been great to have someone other than my mother to talk to for advice.

"I promised to pay her ten dollars if she wore the dress last night. Mom's always getting onto me about how I dress for family dinner. I didn't want her to get after me about my kid." Oh yeah, mom's always getting after him about the jeans and t-shirts he likes.

"Are you planning to dress appropriately tonight? You'll have to contend with Ana as well as mom if you don't." It's true. I like Ana. I think she'll be a great sister-in-law when Christian finally proposes, if he hasn't already. Frankly I can't wait to plan their wedding. Ana though, can be scarier than mom sometimes.

"Yeah the queen gave me her decree last week. She promised me Mariner's tickets in a box seat if I promised not to be myself for the night. She specifically said I had to wear a suit, tie not required though. Get this though," Elliot looks around like he's waiting for Ana to pop out from somewhere. "She made me promise not to pick up some chick, especially her supposedly hot best friend." Eliot takes another sip from his water bottle and now I have to laugh.

"Kate Kavanaugh. She works for her father at the Times. She'll probably be the only media at the party. Word is she's a shark when she wants a story. She interviewed Christian several years ago before he conferred the degrees at her college when she graduated. Christian said she actually asked him if he was gay. Her reputation makes her a female version of you though. You wouldn't stand a chance with her." It's true. Kate Kavanaugh is a true bitch. I would never have guessed her and Ana were friends. Her mother is in the same circles as mom and I. Kate has a trust fund, but is one of those who acts likes she's above it and must work. Word is she's planning to take over Kavanaugh Media in a few years when her dad retires.

"Ana told me her name. She sounded familiar. Now I know she's the ball buster Christian threw out of his office. I'll have to meet her in person. I'll have Brooklynne, picking up chicks won't be an option. She's my priority. I can't remember the last time I went on a real date." Wow, Elliot not worrying about what woman he's going to take home for once. Maybe my brother is growing up. Both my bothers are.

"Okay, well, it's almost noon. Brooklynne had lunch already. You had better burry if you're going to have time to shop and get ready for tonight. Promise me you'll stay here again tonight." I want to spend as much time as possible with them.

"We'll be here Mia. I promise. I won't keep any of you from Brook anymore. I'm not turning her over to you yet though. You need to get to know her better, and she you. We'll figure something out later this week. Let me get things settled with the court tomorrow." Elliot kisses my cheek nad walks away.

Sighing, I look at my phone which had beeped with a message ten minutes ago.

 _ **Sean: Babe, am I meeting you at the place tonight or can I pick you up?**_

Ah, Sean is so dreamy. I can't believe how lucky I was to meet him last month. We've been hot and heavy since we met at the Q Nightclub. He's a perfect fit for me. I can't wait to introduce him to mom and dad tonight.

 _ **Mia: Meet me in the foyer of Escala. I should be there already making sure everything is in place. Call when you get there and I'll come down and get you through security.**_

I go back over the outfit I picked out in my head and wonder how hard it would be to sneak off to one of Christian's guest rooms with him. Smiling, I look back at my phone when I hear the tell-tale beep once again.

 _ **Sean: I'll see you there sweetness. I can't wait to meet your family finally.**_

I think Sean can really be the one. I want everyone to like him. I just know our children will be beautiful. Sighing at the perfectness of the coming night, I start toward my room. I should really talk to mom and dad and see about moving out. It would make it easier so that I could stay over night with Sean if I didn't have to answer to them about not coming home. I wonder if Daddy would up my allowance to cover a condo on Elliot Bay, or maybe Christian would just buy me a place.

* * *

Ana's POV

"Christian hurry up and get in the shower. I've got to go check in with Gail. The caters will be setting up any minute and I want to meet with the owner before people start getting here. We've got about 45 minutes." I look to the alarm clock once again and I can't wait for this night to start. I was really picky with the guest list. I made sure to invite everyone I knew Christian would want here, his family and the few friends he has. Grace helped add a few people that are important in the social circle. I didn't want to turn this into one long business dinner. I made it clear tonight was fun for Christian, however, I am sure that Grace plans to network a little.

"Ana, I promise to be quick. It's taking all I can do to not undress you right now. You look stunning baby. Go do what you need to. I'll be out and dressed in fifteen I promise." Christian places a kiss to the top of my head before heading into the en suite. Looking back at the mirror I take note of myself. I'm wearing a teal chiffon floor length dress. It's backless and the straps crisscross in the back before ending in a corset fashion on the small of my back. It's lightweight and perfect for the party. Plus, Christian won't be able to keep his hands off me all night. He loves when he can feel my back.

I've left my hair down and in loose waves. The makeup is minimal as always, some light eyeliner and mascara, a pale shimmer eyeshadow, and pale pink lipstick. The only jewelry I'm wearing is a beaded rustic cuff bracelet that was part of a set Daddy gave me for Christmas two years ago. The heels I'm wearing tonight, I bought this dress to wear with specifically. I've had these heels for three years; Dolce and Gabbana teal lace heals with a teal and white Swarovski crystal flower. I fell in love with the shoes in the window of a store in New York. I bought them immediately and looked for the perfect outfit to wear them with. I found this dress at an online boutique Kate discovered last month. It was perfect for tonight.

Leaving the bedroom, I listen to my heels click clack on the floor as I take in the great room. The couches have been moved to the edge of the room. A second couch was moved in close to it, providing a nice seating area. There are a few round tables set up with cream linen table clothes, chocolate brown runners in the middle and short glass vases filled with blooms in varying shades. When I told the florist I wanted something masculine, she did not disappoint. The roses are dyed beautiful shades of caramel and chocolate brown. Mixed in with ivory roses and a few tan tiger lilies with a couple sprigs of monkey grass, they are a perfect representation of what I wanted. They sure as hell aren't the giant pink and orange gerbera daisies that Mia wanted us to get.

Mia. I sign inwardly thinking of that girl. She could have so much potential. She needs focus. I plan to talk to Kate tomorrow at lunch about her. Kate grew up in the same circles as Mia and might have some ideas. I understand Mia is a few years younger than me, but even after she spent that year in Paris to be a chef, she hasn't done anything in life. She parties with her friends and lives off of Christian's credit cards and the allowance that Grace and Carrick give her each month. Mia has tried for weeks now to get me to go to a girls' night with her and her friends, but frankly, I have no desire to spend a night drinking in a VIP booth of some club on Christian's name. Because let's face it, that is exactly how Mia gets pass the lines and gets the best bottle service for the night.

"Gail, how is everything?" I catch my friend coming out around the corner from the kitchen and I have to laugh. "What are you wearing?" She's in a pair of black slacks and a gray button up shirt and a black tie. She looks like the rest of the caterers setting up near the buffet tables next to the balcony doors.

"That woman that you hired insisted that I change to match her employees when she saw me setting the cake up. I had to borrow a shirt and tie from Taylor." I watch her dust imaginary lint from her shirt and I really laugh then.

"Gail, you look ridiculous. That shirt is obviously too big for you and the tie is to long. Please go change. You don't work for that woman. With the exception of the cake, you're really off duty the rest of the night. I would appreciate you watching over the catering staff if you can, but you do not need to blend with them. I expect to see you drinking a glass of wine and eating several of the hors d'oeuvres tonight. I know I asked you for your help, but don't ever think that you aren't in charge in our home. Christian and I found the prefect house today and we're expecting to hear back on our offer any minute. It's big and I am going to need your help. I'll even bribe you. Once the paperwork is official, I'll give you an hour with Elliot to design your dream kitchen. Anything you want in there will be yours. As long as we have space for a wine cooler, I'm okay with whatever you want. Just no pine cabinets. I don't like the light pine look. What do you say?" I watch the glitz and sparkle in her eye and the bright smile spread across her face.

"My dream kitchen? Really. That could get costly." I snort because she knows that Christian won't care and while I don't like when he drops $15,000 on a handful of dresses, when it comes to my dream home, I'll spare no expense.

"Don't you worry about that. Between Christian and I we can afford it. This place even has a nice little three-bedroom cottage toward the back of the property that will be perfect for you and Taylor. I even told Christian I thought it would be great to have a separate drive put in from the road for it. Maybe then that bitch Taylor was married to before you will stop jerking you guys around about Sophie." I hate when Taylor tells me about his phone calls being cut short, or her excuses for why Sophie can't visit over night with them. A month when Christian and I spent the weekend on the Grace for the first time, we had hoped that they would get to spend the weekend with Sophie. But apparently, there was some school project she needed to do that was due on Monday and she couldn't do it without her mother. Gail was so upset when we came home. I might suggest Taylor talk to Carrick. Surely, she's going against whatever agreement they had put in place.

"That sounds truly wonderful, Ana. I actually have a pinterest board with my dream kitchen. I'll be sure to bring it to my meeting with Elliot. I know you said you had a full day tomorrow, do you think we could sit down on Tuesday?" I can see the wheels turning in her head and I can't wait. I hope that this sale goes through.

"You go change into something you'll be more comfortable in and you've got yourself a deal." I watch Gail leave and stalk toward the kitchen. I need to check in there with everyone and I needed Gail out of the way. She hates it when I try to help. I can't count the number to times I've listened to her complain about me washing dishes or fixing my own breakfast in the morning if I beat her to the kitchen. Let's not forget the argument that ensued between me and her and Christian when I dared start a load of laundry on my own.

Walking around the wall separating the kitchen from the great room, I see several waiters and waitresses standing around. They are all dressed similarly to the Gail was. Dark gray button down shirts, black slacks and shoes, black ties tucked into black aprons. All the women have their hair slicked back into pony tails or buns and the two gentlemen are clean cut and clean shaven. I finally spot Ms. Angela Roy. She's dressed in black slacks of her own, but she's stands out with her long blonde hair hanging loosely around her shoulder and her untucked white button down and a black buttoned vest. Angela is a mid-fortyish woman that has owned Accent Caterers for 12 years. Grace says she is the go to gal for society social engagements.

"Ms. Roy, everything looks wonderful." She looks startled when she sees me and I watch her paste on an obviously fake smile as she turns to address me.

"Ahh, Mrs. Grey. I'd hoped everything would be to your satisfaction. I had to get your in house help to change so that she would blend with the rest of my group, but I think we're ready. We are short one waitress. She had a problem with security and they wouldn't let her in, it was quite an embarrassment on her part as well as mine. I don't know that I appreciate the measures that my employees and I had to make to work here tonight. Other than that, everything is ready to go." I listen to each thing she just told me and I take a deep breath before I address her. This woman is annoying as hell, but she was highly recommended by Grace.

"Ms. Roy, I've told you several times, I am Christian's partner, not his wife. My name is Anastasia Steele. Not Grey. The check you'll be receiving will be signed by Steele not Grey. Please remember this. Second, my so-called in house help as you called her is a dear friend. She doesn't need to blend. You're standing in her domain. She rules this kitchen and I told you that you and your people would need to follow her lead. She's been sent to change back into whatever it was she was planning to wear. Third, I don't control the security measures in my home. Our head of personal security, Jason Taylor does. If you have a complaint take it up with him. However, let me remind you that each and everyone of your employees have signed non-disclosure agreements. You all agreed to turn in your phones and to adhere to the procedures they deemed necessary. None of you need to stay and continue your work tonight. You're all free to leave, however I will deduct the fee for lack of services performed, but I'm sure that we can manage." I'll have to see what happened when they all arrived tonight, but I won't focus on that till after the party. Maybe not even till tomorrow. I want to enjoy tonight, and I hope I can manage to not micromanage everyone.

"I'm sorry Ms. Steele. Please forgive me. I wasn't trying to complain. Its just that one of my longtime employees was supposed to be here tonight and she called in sick. I have a strict shift cover policy. If you don't provide your own replacement when calling in less than 48 hours from your shift, you're off the next event. She sent her sister, and I think there was a mix up with her id and the security guy wouldn't let her pass the elevator entrance. Something about her not being vetted." Ah, now I understand.

"Yes, everyone in this penthouse tonight has been vetted. There was a reason when NDAs were signed that we required copies of photo ids or took pictures. We didn't want people trying to claim to be someone else and sneaking in. The guests must go through the same measures to enter the party. I can ask Taylor to come and talk to you if you'd like." I've lost my patience with this woman. I understand she's Grace's go-to gal, but I'm not sure I'll use her again.

"No, no ma'am. We're all good. Would you like to look over the trays before they set the food out?" Angela Roy actually looks a little nervous. I know she wants to be able to say she catered Christian Grey's birthday party, but I made it clear that she may only list us a client on her website as The Grey Family no specific event. Grace has always allowed her to list the charity events she contracts her to work, but never the family name. After much discussion between the two of us, we both decided to allow this concession.

"Yes, I would. Did you get the macaroni and cheese like I asked? I didn't see the last menu list, I left that to Mia." I had one demand. She needed to find a way to serve Christian's favorite food at the party.

"Yes, we did. We have mini mac-n-cheese cups that were backed with a bread crumb crust." I don't know what it is but something about the way she says it makes me think that she didn't exactly like having to make that one. I know this is technically a high society crowd, but I didn't want caviar and pate smeared crackers. I wanted items I knew Christian would eat. "We also have spinach and sundried tomato dip stuffed mushrooms, a cranberry and goat cheese stuffed crustini, ham and swiss roles, cucumber and smoked salmon served with cream cheese, prosciutto wrapped asparagus, garlic and herb roasted shrimp with a homemade cocktail sauce, as well as standard meat and cheese platters on the buffet tables and fruit and veggie platters as well. Miss Grey requested a chocolate fondue fountain, but her mother vetoed that." Thank goodness, I hate the idea of people running food through something like that and sharing. That's why I was specific about no cheese balls or actual dips with Mia. I don't like double dippers and fountains are the same thing to me. However, I can't help but catch the small scowl that crossed her face.

"Thank you. Will you be circulating with trays of drinks or is there a bar station?" I didn't pay attention to that part when Mia was discussing it at lunch Friday.

Ms. Roy straightens her posture a little bit and tugs her shirt tight looking at her watch before she answers. "Both. There is a small bar set up on the opposite side of the room from the buffet table. We have a sauvignon blanc and champagne circulating. The bar will be serving a single malt scotch, a merlot, as well as mixing seltzer drinks. Is there anything else I can answer for you? I need to send my employees to their stations and get the trays on the tables." Now she looks put out with me and I don't really care.

"Gail will direct you when it's time to bring out the cake and how to serve it. She'll be watching everything and if she says something needs to be taken back or brought out listen to her." I'm done with this woman. I won't be hiring her again. I don't like her condescending and know it all attitude. I may not be a Grey, but I'm still in charge here.

"Very well, Miss Steele." She turns her back on me and snaps her fingers at a couple of girls standing next to the ovens. I shake my head and walk back to the living room. I glance at the clock above the fireplace and note that party time starts in twenty minutes. I want to check with Christian before everyone gets here and see if he's heard anything about the house.

Walking back toward the bedroom, I see one of the new members of GEH security that was brought in standing near our bedroom door. Thank goodness Taylor understood my need to have people that would ensure no one snuck into our private spaces. I'm almost to the door when I hear a loud whoop and before I can open the door Christian is there with the biggest grin on his face.

Picking me up and swirling me around, Christian kisses me with everything he has. Threading my hands into his hair I try to deepen it. I don't know what he's so excited, but I don't want to stop kissing him. I'm pressed against the wall next to the door as his hands start to wander. I want to bring my legs up and around him and I'm about to try and defy the limitations of my dress when we hear a throat being cleared not far from us. I pull away from Christian as we both turn our heads toward the interloper.

"Sir, Ryan just called up. Your family has started to arrive." Taylor looks a little flushed and I can only imagine how long he was standing there before he finally interrupted us.

"Taylor, Ana and I need champagne immediately. We have just become homeowners." Christian releases me from his hold against the wall and grabs my hand before dragging me toward the great room.

"Congratulations, sir, ma'am." I wink at Taylor as we scurry past him and I can't contain the giddy smile that spreads across my face. This is wonderful news and I'm ecstatic. I can't believe we're taking another step toward our happily ever after.


	11. Chapter 10

2/1/18

 **A/N: This is just the first of two chapters covering Christian's birthday party. The next chapter will be the juicier of the two. After the party, things will start to speed up as we're already a third of the way through this story. Remember Steele Love is pt. 2 of a 4 part series.**

 **Those of you that are reading the newest addition to my story roster, thank you. There should be a bonus for you followers tomorrow.**

 **As always, I don't own FSoG, or the Seattle Mariners. The Pinterest boards are updated with everything for the party so far. Unavowed's got a board going now.**

 **Thanks for all the favorites and follows, leave a review and let me know what you like so far, or don't like.**

 **Laters**

 **A Steele Love**

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Chapter 10

Christian's POV

Ana and I walk hand in hand toward the great room. I know she's worked hard to make tonight something special. Mia's always tried to throw birthday parties for me and Elliot, but they always contained more of her friends and I'm always bombarded with people wanting to do business with me or talk business. When Ana told me her plans and that not only was she making everyone consent to a background check and sign an NDA to be able to attend, but she was making a no work rule. She told me she truly wanted me to just enjoy being the center of attention. She even asked people to donate to Coping Together in lieu of gifts. I know the gift thing won't apply to my family, but hopefully everyone else will stick with it.

Speaking of gifts, I can't wait to tell Dad and Elliot about the one Ana got me today. She says she still has one more, but she wants me to open in with the family. I'm actually excited for this party. I've never want to celebrate my birthday, but I do today. I see my mom and dad followed by Mia as they exit the elevator. Mom immediately starts gushing over the way the place looks.

"Oh Ana, you've done a marvelous job. You were right, those flowers look perfect and masculine." I finally take note of how everything looks. Mom's right, the flowers on the tables look wonderful. I love the muted tones. I bet anything my sister hates them though. Looking at her outfit, I'm sure we're about to here it too. She's in a pale mint green mini dress with long sheer sleeves and little flowers embroidered all over the place. I hope she doesn't bend over tonight, we'd all see her ass. Ana told me she's bringing a new boyfriend tonight. So far, he's passed Ana's system, so we'll see if her gets past me tonight.

"There should have been more color. I told you it didn't need to be pink, yellow or red would have done just fine." Mia is her usual petulant self tonight I see. I'm going to need to talk to Ana about her. I want my sister to succeed in life, and I think I might be indulging her too much. We'll see what her credit card statement looks like when it comes in this month.

"Mia, I told you, this is a party for Christian. He doesn't like bold colors like that. Now, where is Elliot and Brooklynn. I wanted to do our gifts with Christian before everyone else got here." Ana is very matter of fact with my sister, and I know she had a hard time planning this party with her.

"He was right behind us." Mia looked like she was about to say something else, but then the elevator dings signaling the arrival of another. When we turn to look and see who it is we're greeted by my niece and her not as good looking as me father.

"Uncle Christian!" My legs are suddenly attacked by a little blonde bundle in a purple tutu.

"Hey Monkey." I instantly bend to pick her and Brooklynne is quick to reward me with a kiss to the cheek. "I'm so happy you're here. I here there's going to be a cake. Think you can help me with the candles?" The thought that one day it could be my daughter in my arms blowing out her own birthday candles makes my heart swell. I'm going to get there. That Bitch Troll, as Ana refers to her, will not rule my life anymore. If love is for fools, then call me king fool. I was going to make more of an effort. I was going to be there with my family. I was going to show them I loved them. Now to figure out how to do that exactly.

"Well we're all here now. How about we get to the presents before the rest of the guests start showing up." Ana tries to corral everyone back toward the great room, where she's got a present for me set out on the coffee table in from of the large sectional.

"Uncle Christian, I picked you out a present all my own today. Daddy to took me to the store and told me to get whatever I want. I wanted to get you a stuffed panda, but Daddy talked me out of that. I found something awesomer and you can take it to work with you. Daddy don't like it, but he said I could pick what I wanted, and I know it's perfect!" Her excitement at the end of that was a shrill and in my ear.

"Well let's go see what's in the bag you brought." Elliot is carrying a happy Father's Day bag, and I suddenly remember today is Father's Day. I feel like crap. I forgot all about it and we have Ray and Dad here.

"Ray, Dad, I forgot today was Father's Day. How about next weekend we take the men out on the boat and do some fishing, or if you prefer we can all go to Aspen for the weekend. I feel terrible." I catch Ray's eye and I see the smirk covering his face.

"Son, I'll admit I forgot about Father's Day myself. I won't turn down Aspen. I think it would be relaxing, you think you can get everyone on that fancy jet of yours?" Ray looks contemplatively at me and I can see he's up to something. "I'm going to let you enjoy yourself tonight, but you and I need to have a discussion tomorrow." Ray steps to me and places a hand on the shoulder that Brooklynne isn't hanging onto. Leaning into my ear he whispers, "I have something you might like and I'd like to see Annie with it before I go home." Ray pulls back and firmer and confidently so everyone hears him he hits me with his next statement. "I was approved this morning to take some leave for the two weeks starting tomorrow. I'm exploring some options." Now I'm perplexed.

"What are you talking about Daddy?" Ana looks at her father with her head tilted a bit to the side. It's a look she learned from me.

"I'm meeting with the Mayor of Seattle Thursday. The Chief of Police here is looking to retire." With that statement Ray turns and walks to the sectional. Ana scurries after him. This is perfect. If he can get this, then he can be here for everything. He can join us for Sunday dinners at my parents. Maybe Ana and I should ask to host at our home as well.

"Christian, come on. I can't wait for you to see what I bought you. It wasn't the first present that I got you, but I saw it yesterday and I knew that you needed it." Mia is bouncing more that Brooklynne did with her excitement.

"All right let's do this. Who wants to know what I got from Ana earlier today?" Elliot's hand shoots up and I can't wait for them to see it. Setting down on the white sectional, I pull my phone from my pocket and show everyone the photo that Sawyer took of us in front of the house on the point.

"Dude, is this what I think it is?" Elliot looks ready to bounce down to the garage.

"She bought me Ferris Bueller's car." My smile is from ear to ear and I look right at Ana and wink. Elliot drool a little more and ask about some of the specs on the cat before he passes the phone to my mother. I watch her do something then I hear the ding of someone's phone.

"I sent the photo to myself. I'm printing that for my office desk. It's a good photo, but where was it taken Christian?" I wondered who would notice the house behind it.

"That's the house Ana and I bought today out at Hunt's Point. Elliot, this is the only time I'm allowed to discuss business this week. We're gonna need to meet with you this week, Ana's got some renovations she's gonna need, and we'll need a list of designers." I watch Mom hand the phone back to Elliot and watch as he zooms in on my phone.

"This house looks huge." Elliot hands the phone to Mia so that she can see the car next.

"I know it's going to be a big project, especially since she wants to tear down a couple of the bedrooms, completely redo every floor, and she wants to build an addition to house our security offices and quarters for the security team above the offices. We were promised closing before the end of the week since we're paying the full asking price and in cash."

Elliot whistles, and pulls out his phone looking something up. "I can come to Grey House Tuesday and see what you want to do. I'll get the blueprints tomorrow. How's lunch and then a meeting at the house sound? Once I know what you want I can get you a list of designers. Do you want to see use the same one you used here and for the Aspen house?" I shudder thinking of that woman. Gia Matteo is good at her job, but she's a man eater.

"We'll see. She'll need to pass the Ana test. Now enough about that, let's get to the presents." I want to move this along. I don't want anyone intruding while we have our little family time.

"Me first! Me First, Uncle Christian." Brooklynne is bouncing on my knee trying to get my attention.

"Okay Monkey. I'll open yours first. Can you get it for me?" She doesn't answer, she just slides of my lap and runs to her father to get the bag. I finally take note of her full outfit. She's in a dress with a black top featuring a unicorn and a sparkly tutu bottom. She's earing black tights and sparkly converse tennis shoes. I wonder how disappointed Mia's going to be when she finds out Brook likes mud better than lip gloss. "Here you go. Open it, open it!" Her excitement is infectious.

I take the small red bag from her and remove the blue tissue paper inside. I see that it's a coffee mug. When I pull the mug from the bag I smile even brighter, if that's possible. The handle is a light blue and the mug is orange and has what looks like a child's writing and coloring on the mug. The mug proudly says, "Uncles are like Dads, only cooler!" The colorful lettering of the Uncles and cooler and the stars dotted around the bottom, make even more adorable.

"Thank you Brooklynne. I'll be sure to take it to work with me tomorrow. I'll have Andrea use it for my coffee from now on." I give her a kiss to top of her head and she bounds to her father.

"I told you he would love it Daddy." Elliot shakes his head and looks at his daughter trying to look hurt.

"Do you really think he's cooler than me?" Brooklynne looks at her father and then at me and then she starts laughing.

"Daddy, you're the greatest. I love you the mostest in the whole wides world, but Uncle Christian doesn't make me wash the dirt on hands or tell me I can't have candy." I laugh then, because I will absolutely tell her those things if the situation arises. I'm sure that we'll eventually get the opportunity. Ana mention making sure that we have a child friendly guest room in the house for when she's over. She's already counting on Brooklynne sleeping over.

"All right monkey. How about you hand me another present." I try to get her to focus on something else. She walks to the table and grabs a small box about ten inches by ten inches and is covered in plain brown butcher paper. There is a white tag on it. The gift is from Ana. I start to tear the package open and then open the box. Inside is a toy helicopter that looks strikingly like Charlie Tango.

"It's solar powered. The R & D department and Barney helped me with it." I smile and plan to take it to the office tomorrow with my mug. There's even a stand in the box to hold it.

"Thank you Snow White." She smiles at me and next thing I know Brooklynne is shoving another box into my hands.

This next gift is from Ray. I open the red package and wonder what could be inside. When I get the box opened I laugh. Inside is a pair of MMA boxing gloves. "You need to get a little more practice in. It's embarrassing to have a… ugh, consider you my son knowing my daughter can kick your butt." Ray chuckles to himself and I know he was close to saying son in law.

"Thanks Ray. I'll use these when I meet with Bastille tomorrow." And I will. These gloves are sweet. Black Skintex leather, wrist support, and foam padding. My hands will be protected, and I can do more damage to him.

"Brooklynne, sweetheart, will you take Grammy's gift to your uncle?" Mom looks at Brooklynne and pulled out an envelope and gave to my little niece. That girl has wormed her way into my heart much like Ana. I don't know what kind of father I'll be, but I want to be a father. I know it's probably too soon, but I would love to have Ana pregnant for the holidays. It would be the perfect Christmas gift. I've got to make her a Grey first though.

Taking the envelope from Brook, I open it and pull out a set of passes. "Mom, what is this?" I'm looking a s set of MBL passes for the World Series.

"Well son, the Mariners have only lost one game so far this season. They're looking at the World Series. Those passes give you access to a box for the World Series for you and eleven other people. I fully expect you to make it a family event. I know that you can get tickets to regular games with just a phone call, but I don't think even you can get those. By the way, you have to add John Stanton and his wife Theresa to your wedding list whenever you and Anastasia get around to that." My mother sounds rather flippant about it, but it sends a thrill through me thinking about marrying Ana. But what the hell, she's already working on a wedding list. I won't have our wedding turned into a circus production.

"When the time comes Mom, we'll talk about it." Ana is looking me wide eyed. We're going to have some serious discussions in the coming weeks. I need to get ahold of that jeweler tomorrow. I want a ring in hand immediately. If she tells me she doesn't want to wait I'll propose tonight. Damn it, I should have just gone down to Cartier and picked one out. No, Anastasia deserved a rare gem and I won't pick out a setting that a hundred other women have.

"Well, okay, it's my turn. I had bought you some ties because I thought you needed to add some color to your wardrobe, but I saw this when I was shopping for a new dress to wear today. I know you'll love it. Everyone will see it and know that you rule the boardroom. Open it Christian." Mia hands me a bright orange box only about five inches by five inches.

Carefully opening the paper, you'd think I was opening a bomb. I'm actually scared to see what is in this box. I know that Mia is excited, but for some reason I'm completely apprehensive about this gift. Mia is always over the top and I don't think that this will be any different. When I get the paper off I'm greeted with a polish wood watch box. Okay, a watch, it can't be that bad. I really like this box. It a dark cherry wood, shiny. I lift the lid and gasp.

I gasped. I'm a dominate CEO who rules the business world and I gasped like a wanton little girl. I know this watch. I asked Andrea to look into the specifics for me last week, I wanted to get one for me and have a women's version made for Ana, so they would match. That means that I know how much this watch cost and I want to know how Mia paid for me.

"Mia this is a Louis Moinet Vertalor Tourbillon watch. How did you get this? And how did you pay for it?" I have a feeling, but I can't figure out how she would do it, her card has a limit.

"Well yeah, I know what it is. It's like the best watch in the world right now. I hear there is going to be a waiting lists for them soon. Anyway, I used the credit card you gave me, I had to call your PA's assistant to get her to call the credit card company and raise the card limit for the day. Isn't marvelous?" Andrea's assistant is fired. I can't remember her name, but she's fired.

Closing my eyes, I count to ten silently and take deep breathes. Remember she's your little sister Grey. You've never hit a girl, not going to start now. Don't yell at her in front of your mother. "Mia, you mean to tell me that I am paying for my own gift. You won't be paying that bill. Furthermore, it was frivolous for you. This is a $200,000 watch that I essentially bought for myself. You will be in my office tomorrow at 10am. You will bring your card with you. We're going to have a serious chat. This was a nice thought, but you went over board this time." I can't look at my sister.

"Christian, why don't we take these to the bedroom for now, and then we can all get a drink. The others should be arriving soon." Ana is talking to me in her most soothing voice. She sounds melodic and it's an instant balm on my irritated mood.

"Christian, are you going to take away my card?" Mia looks like she's ready to burst into tears and I know my mother will kill me if I make her cry.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow Mia." I stand and help Ana grab the gifts and we head to the bedroom to put them away for now.

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Ana's POV

I can't believe Mia. Andrea is going to flip come tomorrow. She's going to be pissed when Christian fires her new assistant. The poor woman has gone through three other assistants since the Olivia fiasco. Maybe I should suggest a male replacement this time. Someone who won't gawk at Christian. That's the main problem, his pretty face makes all the girls flustered and they look incompetent at their jobs and then he just fires them. We need an Andrea clone. I think again about just how much I lucked out with Hannah, she's amazing.

"Christian, forget about the watch for tonight. Just enjoy being with your family and our friends. I'll warn you though, I did allow Grace to invite a few of her society gals and their families. However, I nixed every gold-digging friend Mia wanted to invite. There should be no desperate daughters looking for a husband to take care of her tonight." I know that's the real reason Christian hates these sorts of things. He doesn't like the women who throw themselves at him. I think there is one daughter coming with her parents, but she's engaged already. Grace invited a divorcee that moved to Seattle from New York. She wants to introduce her to people and she's thinking about asking the woman to help with Coping Together. If my reports were correct, and they always are, Adrienne Fleming got a $75,000,000 settlement in her divorce and she plans to spend the rest of her days doing lunch and volunteering.

"I'm fine with that Snow White. Just stick close to me tonight. We have to meet Mia's new boyfriend tonight as well. Did you do a background on him as well?" I'm not new at this of course I did.

"I told Mia the only way he'd get past the lobby is if he complied like everyone else. Taylor will have his background check and a copy of his signed NDA and ID. He's clean. He's a trust fund boy that works at his Daddy's insurance firm. He likes to party, never has anything left in his bank account at the end of the month. He gets a salary from his job, and then an allotment from his trust fund. He doesn't get full access until he marries and has a kid. Other than that, there isn't much to see on the report." I did ask Griffin to go a little deeper this week though since he's with Mia.

Christian kisses the top of my head and places a hand to my back. "Let's go join everyone else. I've got cake to eat with a monkey." Christian gives me that smile that I love. His grey eyes are bright and sparkling. He's happy and that's all I wanted.

Walking back to the rest of the family, we hear the elevator ding, and the first of the guests start to arrive. There is a DJ set up by one of the bars. He starts playing some top 40 song, softly. I asked him to play an eclectic mix of music. I want to dance with Christian tonight when we're not mingling.

Grace is in her hosting element when she sees the first people off the elevator. We join her near the entry way to get an introduction. I've only met a few of these people at the Coping Together gala. "Lance, Janine. It's so good to see you." Grace greets the first couple. They didn't get the memo that this wasn't a formal affair. Lance is in a Black tux with a black bow tie, and Janine is in a red one shouldered gown that has a black sash tied around the waist with a bow on her left hip. Her light reddish-brown hair is polished and cut just below her ears. Lance has a close-cut head full of grey hair. "Lance, Janine, you know my children, but I want you to meet Christian's girlfriend, Anastasia Steele." Both members of the couple shake my hand and offer genuine greetings as I ask how they know the Grey family.

"Grace and I went to the same college together. We lost touch after graduation, but I think Mia was about four years old when Grace and I ran into each other at the mall one day. It was great to see an old friend just after moving to Seattle. I've watched all these kids grow. I'll tell you, it's good to see Christian so happy." I instantly like Janice.

"We'll have to lunch sometime, and you can tell me some stories." She nods her head in the affirmative as she moves on to talk to Carrick with her husband. The next couple behind them I know. I love these two. "Grandma Trevelyan, Grandpa Trevelyan, it's good to see you."

Christian loves his grandparents. Theo is his greatest inspiration. He's the man that Christian tries to emulate the most. His grandmother is a refined lady who will turn into a dirty minded sailor after her third drink. It's going to be a fun night. "Ana, I seem to remember promising not to call you little girl anymore in exchange for you calling me Edie. The lug beside me is Theo. Now I know everyone here except that man over there in the green shirt?"

"That is my father Edie. Let me introduce you." I take her arm and steer her toward Dad who has just returned from the bar with a scotch in his hand. "Daddy, let me introduce Christian's grandmother to you. Edie Trevelyan, meet my father, Raymond Steele. The gentleman behind us next to Christian is his grandfather Theo."

Grandpa speaks up and looks dad up and down. "Former Marine, right?" He holds his hand out to Daddy, and I can see the firmness of the handshake. Theo is trying to decide what kind of man Daddy is, but I could have told him, he's the best kind.

"Yes sir. I served for nearly twenty years before I retired and took a job with the Naval Criminal Investigative Services." Daddy volunteers just enough information to pull Theo into a conversation that neither Christian nor I are needed for. Edie has already moved beyond our little group and is now talking to Janine and Grace.

I hear the elevator ding and go to greet the next round of guests. I leave Christian with his grandfather and my father and make my way over. Before I can get to the entry though I'm stopped by a little blonde mess. "Aunt Ana can I hang out with you. Daddy's talking to some man and I don't know what they're talking about. It's something down in the town, but I don't know. It's boring." I hold my hand out to Brooklynne and let her tag along.

I wait see who is stepping off the elevator and I grin when I see my best friend. She's dressed to kill in a black deep v-neck dress that fall to just above her knees. Her blonde hair is pulled back in a loose bun just above her neck. Her makeup is light, with the exception of s dark smokey eye that makes the green of her irises pop. "Brookie, wanna meet my best friend?"

"You have a BFF Ana? I want a BFF, the girls at my school are mean though. I don't want a mean BFF." She smiles at me and I have to bend down and hug her.

"I'll be your BFF monkey. You can always count one me. Now I want you to meet Kate. She's the best." I stand back up and we walk to Kate as my girl grins.

"Looking ace Steele. Who's the little poptart?" Kate stops in front of us and gives me a hug before squatting down eye level with Brook. "I'm Kate, what's your name?"

"Brooklynne Elizabeth Williams Grey and I'm not a poptart." Brooklynne has her hands on her hips now and looks like she's about to throw a diva fit.

"You most certainly are. Don't you know poptarts are awesomely cute and sweet morsels that you can never get enough of? That's what you are. It's meant only in the kindest ways." Kate tries to reason with her, tapping her little nose, and I laugh when I watch Brook cock her to the side and rub her chin contemplatively in a very Christian Grey manner.

"Okay. I like you. Wanna be my best friend too? Aunt Ana said she's gonna be my best friend. I want lots of best friends and since you're her BFF that means you gots to be mine too." Brook is very matter of fact about the whole thing, even tapping her foot, and I can't help the smile that crosses my face.

"Well poptart, if we're gonna do the BFF thing that means we have to have girls' night. You know what that means right?" I can't help but watch in amazement at this bizarre conversation that Kate is having with Brooklynne.

"No what's girls' night? My Aunt LeeLee has what she calls me nights. That means I go to bed an hour earlier and she watches tv and drinks the nasty juice." Kate looks at me over Brook's hair and lifts an eyebrow. I shake my head at her silent question. I'll tell her more tomorrow.

"Girls' night is lots of fun. It means that we get to do girly things, like do our nails and our hair. We can go to the spa if you want. Oh, and we can go shopping. Girls' night also means lots of really good food, including candy and a cheesy girly flick. Then we stay up all night talking about how disgusting boys are." I like Kate's way of explaining, but I can't wait for Brook's answer.

"Umm, no on the hair. If we do our nails I only want purple or green. I don't like shopping unless it's for toys, and if we're having good food that means lots of pizza and macaroni and cheese. Daddy says no candy at night. But boys are gross. I can tell you alllllll about Nathan Simpson and how many boogers he eats every day." I shouldn't have tried to take a drink while she was talking. Kate's lucky my champagne isn't on her.

"The beauty of girls' night means no boys, so that means no daddy. You and Aunt Ana can come to my place for a sleepover." And right then Kate earned herself a new best friend. Brooklynne throws her arms around Kate and proudly proclaims me right.

"Aunt Ana was right. You're the bestest best friend ever. You have to tell my Daddy I can sleepover with you. But we can't tell him about the candy, he'll say no." Brooklynne is quick to grab Kate's hand and drag her toward her father. I follow behind, because I can't wait to see this. I've been wanting to introduce Kate and Elliot for weeks.

Kate is three feet from Elliot waiting for him to turn around. I see he's talking to a younger man that had come in on the same elevator with Kate. When Elliot turns around finally, Brook starts talking, but I don't think that her father is hearing anything she says. I know Kate isn't.

"Wipe your chin Kavanaugh. Elliot, let me introduce you to my best friend, Katherine Kavanaugh. Kate meet Christian's big brother, and Brooklynne's father, Elliot Grey." Elliot holds out his hand and just continues to stare.

Kate finally sees his hand and clasp it and you see her eyes dart up to his quickly. "Aunt Ana, are they gonna kiss? He's looking at her like Uncle Christian does you." And I need to laugh once more. Brooklynne you are too much.

"Let's let them talk monkey. I'm sure your Grandma has some other people she wants to introduce you too." I grab Brook's hand and we go in search of Grace. I didn't pay enough attention while talking with Kate and Brooklynne. It's seems almost half the guest list has arrived in the last fifteen minutes.

I get Brooklynne handed off to her Grandmother and go in search of the birthday boy. When I find him, he's talking to the gentleman I saw Elliot talking to earlier and a couple around the same age as Grace and Carrick. "There you are Christian. I was looking for you." I slide an arm around his waist as I come up behind him.

Christian is quick to place a kiss to my forehead as he wraps an arm around me and starts the introductions. "Anastasia, this is Albert and Sheryl Chambers and their son Clay." Sheryl is a blonde I would guess around the age of 55 dressed in a simple white three-quarter sleeved sheath dress and black red soled Louboutins. Albert looks closer to sixty and is in a black suit with a denim colored shirt and dark blue tie with some kind of white pattern on it. He's got a salt and peppered head of hair with more salt than pepper and a receding hair line giving him a pronounced forehead. Their son, Clay, is in a dark denim colored suit that has a bit of a shine to it in the light. His shirt is navy silk and his tie is black. I don't remember Clay's report, but I would say he's mid twenty in age. His hair is dark, his eyebrows are pronounced and groomed. His eyes are small and beedy. His jaw is small and covered with a couple of days' worth of growth. He looks like he wants to be just about anywhere. I can't help the niggling of recognition in the back of my mind when looking at him though. I'm almost positive I've seen him before, not recently though.

I turn toward the parents and shake their hands. "It's nice to meet you. I wanted to greet you earlier with Grace."

"Actually Ana, I added them to the list. Albert is the deputy Mayor, and Sheryl here is the director of Seattle Legal Aid. She also helps mom with Coping Together, although she refuses to take a seat on the board." Christian smiles warmly at the couple and I have to think to myself that this party was a most excellent idea.

"Christian, I've told you that I don't have the time. Not with the shortage we've been having down at the center. The police department has been on this stop and frisk witch hunt and we've got more clients than we can handle." This is steering dangerously close to work talk, but it's not Christian's work so I let it slide.

"Call me this week and tell me what I can do to help. As for the problems with the SPD, you should talk to Ana's father, Ray Steele. He's around here somewhere and he informed us less than an hour ago that he's interviewing with the mayor this week for the police chief's replacement spot after his retirement." Christian's pride in my father isn't disguised in his voice and it only makes me smile brighter and love him more. I would love for Daddy to move to Seattle. Maybe I can convince him to live with us at Hunts Point.

"Colonel Raymond Steele is your father?" That question comes from Albert. He looks awed and his eyes have grown wide.

"Yes sir. Would you like me to introduce you?"

"It would be an honor Anastasia." I have to shake my head at the man.

"It's just Ana. Come on, he's over here talking with Christian's grandfather." I take Albert's offered arm and steer him toward the corner of room where Theo and Dad are standing talking rather conspiratorially together. "Daddy, Theo, this is Albert Chambers Deputy Mayor of Seattle. Albert, my father Raymond Steele and I'm sure that you know Christian's grandfather, Theo Trevelyan."

Albert holds his hand out to Dad and stares at him a starry eyed. "Sir, Colonel, it's an honor to meet you. I was in Kosovo in 1993 when you conducted a rescue raid. You and your team saved my life. Thank you, sir." Well hell, no wonder he's starry eyed. My father is his literal hero.

"Mr. Chambers, the pleasure is all mine. I remember the Kosovo mission. It was one of my first with the Special Ops team. Annie was a baby then and I was freshly commissioned the week before we deployed." I leave the men to talk a little while I circulate and try and greet more of the guests.

I can see my team has arrived. I debated on inviting Finn, but I figured there was no harm in it. If Christian knew about the mission he wanted to send me on to London, he wouldn't have appreciated Finn's appearance, but it should be fine for tonight. I'll be sure to tell find time to tell Christian about it this week. Frank catches my eye and raises a glass to me as he turns back to Bev and continues talking to her. CeCe is there and has an arm draped around Griffin's shoulder. I love CeCe, but if she's going to do her usual thing, I'm going to have to arrange an escort home for her.

The elevator dings again and I see Barney and his wife exit the elevator along with Andrea and a few other people from GEH. I head off toward Andrea because I want to warn her about Christian and her newest assistant before he gets anywhere near her.

"Andrea, you look lovely. I want to introduce you to someone." I grab her arm and wrap it around mine and steer here toward Christian's office. Just as we get to the hallway, I see the assigned security detail and enter the office shutting the door behind us.

"I thought you wanted to introduce me to someone." Andrea looks perplexed and I have to chuckle and shake my head.

"Yeah sorry, I wish I had someone to introduce you too. Frankly, if said person could be a competent assistant to you, it would make both our lives easier. You had your assistant answering the phones yesterday instead of the service. You're going to have to replace her come tomorrow. She called Christian's credit card company and authorized for Mia to purchase a $200,000 watch yesterday afternoon." Andrea's eyes bug out and I really lose it then. The laugh starts as a small giggle and then before I know it's a full belly laugh. The absurdity of Mia did, and her act of innocence is comical. Andrea watches me for a moment before her eyes start to water from restraining herself and soon she's joining in with me.

"Leslie is an airhead. I explained everything to her the first day. I knew she wouldn't last. I set up a few interviews last week for this Wednesday. I asked Griffin to get the general checks done for me on Thursday. I gave that girl a full day and then I called HR and demanded the application stack they pulled her from. I found twenty better qualified applicants in the stack and I don't know how she landed even an initial interview. She has no office experience. She was a clerk at Hot Topic last month. Before that, she walked dogs in her grandmother's neighborhood." Andrea walks to Christian's mini fridge and pulls a bottle of water out. "Ana, I'm overworked. I need someone who can keep up and not stare at Christian like a juicy T-bone steak every time he walks by. I've pulled six people for interview. Half of them are men and half are women. I plan to conduct the interviews myself, HR has failed too many times. I talked to Taylor about it and we're going to interview outside Christian's office. I want to see them answer the phone and I want to see how they react to Christian before they get a security badge."

Andrea has a good head on her shoulders. She does more for Christian than he realizes. "You find someone that doesn't drool over Christian and I'll buy you lunch at the Mile High everyday for a week. Find someone that Christian doesn't threaten to fire in the first week, and I'll hand you my black AmEx and send you down to see Ms. Acton." Andrea's eyes sparkle at the mention of Caroline Acton. "Now I imposed a no work rule for tonight. I just didn't want you blindsided when he's ThermoChristian tomorrow."

Andrea and I join the rest of the party and I see the great room has filled up nicely. The waiters are circulating. I see people mingling near the food tables, there are several couples sitting around one of the tables. I can see my father still talking to the deputy mayor. Grace has the ear of some new woman. Elliot is glued to Kate, who is glued to Brooklynne. Mia's boyfriend seems to have joined her and they are talking to a few of the people from GEH. I weave my way through the crowd looking for Christian and when I see him, I see red.

Some woman in the skimpiest dress here has just kissed his cheek, leaving a big shiny red print, and she's hanging onto his arm. I can see he's uncomfortable and in need of rescuing. Sometimes the princess needs to rescue the prince. I just hope that I don't have to ruin the party by slaying the dragon tonight. I have many plans for an after party of two. I'm feeling just enough anger and jealousy to make for a night full of angry sex. My brains starts working overtime as I plan an attack as well as my victory celebration.


	12. Chapter 11

**2/8/18**

 **A/N: So, this chapter of the party was written with my playlist on repeat and when we get to the last POV, Kelly Clarkson's "Love So Soft" was playing on repeat. I may have made my husband dance to it with me a few times. I tried to write a fun and flirty dancing scene. I don't want the whole party to be filled with Drama bringing bitches. We have one more chapter before the party is officially over, I'm hoping to get it out next week. I should try and get a Grey Vitals and Unavowed Chapter out first though. I really want to finish this party though.**

 **I have not abandoned Submissive Beginning. I really loved that story when I started and I had an amazing plot. I write general outlines when I start a story and tend to let the little details come as I work through the major points. SB took a turn I didn't see coming though and no matter what I do, I can't get it to turn back. I'm coming to terms that I may need to look at my own writing style. I want the story to be the best, but I can't write a story that causes me a panic attack when I start to re-read it. That's what the latest chapter does to me. So, I'm reworking it. As soon as I get through with the last chapter the epilogue will flow and I will post it immediately.**

 **No beta for me means so error free chapter for you. Deal with it.**

 **I don't own FSOG, but for nearly a year now I've enjoyed every minute of it. This week started out not so good on my nerves, but I bounced back and it's for all of you that this one is getting up today.**

 **Laters**

* * *

 **A Steele Love**

 **Chapter 11**

June 18, 2017

Ana's POV

I try to shuffle through the files I've stored in my memory of tonight's attendants. I don't know this woman personally but if Christian didn't look so uncomfortable and repulsed, I'd say he did. She certainly seems to know him. I move as quickly as I can, even lifting my dress with one hand so as not to risk tripping over it's length. I'm within ten feet of Christian and the mystery woman when I see Taylor moving toward them. He catches my eye over Christian's shoulder and I shake my head at him. This is mine to deal with.

"Christian, sweetheart, who is this?" I manage in the most graceful way to squeeze between Christian and the buxom brunette. I can see a look of relief pass across his features and then puzzlement.

"I actually don't know, baby. She came up and started thanking me for inviting her and before I could say anything else, well…" He's sure I've seen what was happening and gaging my reaction.

"Yes, I saw her. Let me get something for you." I stop a passing waiter, "Can you bring me a damp napkin please?" Turning back to my man, and the woman I still haven't placed, "You've got something on your cheek Christian."

He instantly reaches up and I can see he's disgusted when he feels the sticky mess of her cheap lipstick. "Don't they make this stuff smudge proof now?" His voice is barely a whisper and I know he meant for only me to hear.

The waiter quickly returns with the napkin I requested, and I work fast to wipe the lipstick clean. Cheap indeed. That stuff didn't even stain his perfect skin. Placing a kiss to his cheek over were she'd try to leave her mark, I turn back toward her. "Now that's better. Hello, I'm Anastasia Steele. Welcome to my home."

Sticking my hand out to her, I wait to see if she takes the bait. "Adrienne Flemming. Grace told me my presence was requested tonight. I only assumed that it was to meet the birthday boy." Now I know who she is. She was a complete unknown, so I know every one of her skeleton's in her closet, including the ones she'd hate for her ex-husband and his lawyer to learn about.

"Ah, yes. Grace told me that you were new to town and could use a friend. She insisted that you needed to be here so that you could meet some of the others in her circle that were invited." Christian moves behind me, placing both of his hands on my hips. "I hear that you moved here from New York after a nasty divorce. Grace told me you were looking to join the board of Coping Together." I'm going to be a good host and engage this woman in polite conversation. I'm also going to size her up completely and decide if I'm going to let Taylor and Sawyer remove her from the party and add her to the proscribed list.

"Yes, I was given a large settlement for all the suffering I did throughout my marriage." Suffering my ass. I watch her large dd's fight with gravity to escape her dress. The shimmery black taffeta creation is the definition of tacky. The dress is a halter style with a deep v in the front that barely leaves enough material to cover her nipples. She must employ tape to keep that material in place. The dress is at least a decent length, falling just above the knee. However, when turns toward where I had pointed Grace out, I can see that the dress is completely backless and barely stops above the crack of her ass. Yeah, the length of the dress is only redeeming quality is possesses. "I just don't know what to do with all that money. Grace told me about her charity and shared a little about why she started it, and I just think it's a wonderful cause."

Adrienne clutches a hand to her chest, thankfully covering her cleavage in the process before she continues. "I just thought it would be great to visit with Christian here and get to know him. I mean, he's the reason they started the foundation and I want to make sure that my money is being put to good use." She looks down like she realizes she just covered her best asset. Dropping her hand to her side, she looks up to Christian over my head.

I feel a kiss pressed to my head and they Christian steps to my side, leaving his left arm around my back and firmly grasping my hip. "I'm sorry Mrs. Flemming, I don't have much to do with the foundation. I give every year and make sure to make an appearance at the Gala. In fact, this year's Gala was my favorite ever with Ana at my side." Christian stares down at me and I can't help but think of dancing with him for the first time that night. Dancing cheek to cheek indeed.

"Oh well, your mother has told me that there is an empty seat on the board. I was under the impression that you worked directly with the foundation, I was hoping we would be working together." Adrienne tries to step closer, but I think she sees Christian's stance become a little stiffer when she does because she stops and takes a step back. Straightening her posture just a little, she looks to me when she address us again. "What about you Ana? Are you involved?"

"It's Anastasia, not Ana. I am not directly involved with the board either. I have a full-time position with GEH and my own endeavors. Though by the end of the year, some of those will be no more and I will have a considerable more amount of free time." I want to find someone else to entertain this woman. I think I will avoid the next event Grace hosts and invites her to.

"Oh, I figure that since you were dating Christian here that you didn't work." Why do catty bitches like her always think that just because your man works, you don't need to?

"I actually own my own business and was contracted with GEH. We're in the process of it being absorbed into the GEH umbrella while I've taken over the Head of Security position with GEH. I wouldn't need Christian to support me, even if I chose not to work." This makes her look a little perplexed.

"You met Christian through work? Are you a secretary?" What the hell? This woman is seriously pissing me off. I'm telling Griffin to dig deeper tomorrow. I'm sure there is something I can share with Grace to keep her away. I don't think her pool boy affair will do it.

Christian jumps in for me before I can tear her tacky extensions out. "Ana was brought in on a security consultation, she owns her own cyber security company. I offered her the position as my head of security for all of GEH when the position became available. Soon, we'll have her company under the GEH umbrella. She's quite a big deal in the business world, even before she met me. If you'll excuse us though, I see some other people we need to speak with tonight." Christian doesn't give me a chance to say anything before dragging me straight to his mother.

"Mother," Christian waits for Grace to look at us before he continues. "That Adrienne Flemming woman is a piece of work. She wants me to work with her on the foundations board, then she wanted to know why Ana worked when I could take care of her, and then asked Ana if she was a secretary at GEH"

That's when I giggle. The absurdity of the woman is unbelievable. "Oh dear, I'm sorry Anastasia. She doesn't know anyone here. I was shocked she moved here. She's originally from some small town in Arkansas. She met her ex-husband in college and while he had a big family trust fund and inherited his father's company when he passed, she never really got accustomed to a high society life. I'm hoping that some time with the ladies will help her. I spent all last week trying to get her to hire a personal accountant to help invest her money and set up a monthly stipend to her main account, she was just walking around with a debit card that had access to her whole divorce settlement. Can you believe that?"

Oh boy, Grace has had a few drinks already if she's doing her gossipy thing already. "I can believe it Grace. We're going to talk to a few more. I need to find Gail and tell her we'll bring out the cake soon."

Christian leads us toward the small gathering of GEH employees we invited. I see Andrea look up when we get close, she's quick to grab my arm and pull me close. "Ana who's the tall, dark, and handsome that just came in?" Huh, I hadn't heard the elevator this time. Turning toward the entry way, I see who's walked in and tap Christian's shoulder when I recognize the man.

Christian looks at me and I point over his shoulder. He smiles himself when he sees his friend. "I'll be right back baby." Christian gives me a quick kiss on the lips before walking toward our newest arrival.

"That Andrea is Noah Logan. We met him a few weeks ago when we were returning from a weekend on The Grace. He lives on the twenty-second floor. Noah runs a youth center close to downtown that caters to children who need help after having been placed in abusive foster homes. He's a great guy." I grab Andrea's hand and drag her to the side bar to get a drink.

"Can I get a bottle of water please? Andrea do you want anything?" I notice that my friend is still staring starry eyed at Christian's newest friend.

"Oh, I'm good. Is it just me, or is it really weird that Mr. Grey is so friendly with him if you just met three weeks ago?" Valid question. Now I have to tell the story.

"You know Christian well, and it's his birthday party, none of the Mr. Grey stuff. We met Noah in the elevator. Christian was convinced the man wanted in my panties the moment he introduced himself. He was not a fan till a few days later. We were all in the gym downstairs and Noah was on a treadmill. He got a call from someone at the hospital. One of his cases had gotten into a nasty accident. He went into a panic. I thought he was going to hyperventilate. Christian jumped in and got the nurse on the phone to tell us which hospital. Thankfully it was Grace's. We called Taylor and headed for the garage. The four of us went down there and when we got there..." I have to stop myself or I will cry myself. It was an emotional day, and the reason that Christian leaves work early on Thursdays now.

Taking a swig from the water bottle, I look back at the love of my life and the man that become a close confidant for him. "Noah tries to not get emotionally involved with the kids that come through the shelter, because sometimes he can't save them all. He'd been trying to help this boy, he was thirteen, he'd been in and out of homes and had been sent to a group home a few months back. The kid fell in with the wrong crowd and they found out he'd been visiting the center and attacked him. He fell from the roof of the group home and he didn't make it. Noah was almost catatonic when we came back to Escala. Christian made it a point to check on him the next day and they seem to talk to each other daily now. We've had dinner together a few times. Noah's even got Christian coming down to the center on Thursday afternoons to volunteer time with some of the kids." Just as I finish I see the two men walking toward us.

"That's why I'm not supposed to schedule anything after lunch on Thursdays now. Why didn't he tell me?" I watch Andrea with her eyes fixed on Noah. "Christian doesn't want people knowing. He doesn't want the press to find out."

"Exactly." Is all I say as I finish my water bottle and place it on the table behind us. "Noah, I'm glad you could make it. This is Andrea Parker, a friend of ours, and the only other woman on the planet that can put up with the megalomaniac you call your friend, Christian's unreplaceable PA." I'll encourage the two if they keep looking at each other like that, but I want to stress that we can't replace her. Seriously, Andrea is worth her weight in gold.

Noah extends his hand and I have to smile when he seems to have his eyes glued to Andrea as much as hers are on him. "Noah Logan, it's a pleasure to meet you Andrea." I watch the two shake hands. I look to Christian and he's got a cocky smirk on his face. He appears to see what I see with these two.

"I have to go find Gail. I think everyone is here and if Christian doesn't get his promised cake, he may start a mutiny." I walk off and go in search of Gail.

* * *

Christian's POV

I stood with Noah and Andrea for a few minutes after Ana walked off. Noah Logan, that man was a surprise. I thought he was going to be just another one of those fuckers that wants in her panties, but he's a genuinely good guy. We've gotten to know each other the last few weeks and have a lot more in common than I thought we would. It also helped that we bonded over the center kids. After I shared a bit of my early childhood with him, he invited me to come to the center and see what they do.

It's a great place and I'll be honest and say that I want to see it succeed. Noah has warned me to try and not get attached, but it's hard. You see some kids who seem to be in impossible situations and want to do everything you can for them. I've not asked Ana to join on Thursdays yet, but I see it happening soon. She would be great with some of the girls. Her no nonsense attitude would help. There aren't many female volunteers there. Ana joins us once again and promptly wisks Andrea away. Noah looks a little dejected.

"You could come to the office tomorrow and have lunch with me. Gives you a legitimate excuse to see her again." I sip the scotch in my tumbler and look at him with a smirk and waggle my eyebrow at him.

"Piss off man. She's hot. But you heard your girl. That woman is indispensable and I'm a little afraid I'll lose my balls if I screw it up. I'd love to get to know Andrea, but I am genuinely scared of Ana." Noah take a sip of his beer and I see a slight shudder run through him.

"Serious man? You're scared of her? As long as you don't cheat on Andrea or do something really terrible like hit her, you'll be okay. Ana is pretty understanding. Frankly, if Andrea has been with me this long, I don't think she'll ever leave me. Besides, I could always offer her a bigger salary to stay." It's true. Andrea has put up with me and my moods more than anyone ever has. She's been there with a smile through it all. Ana told her once to stand her ground and she called me a straight up bastard the next day when I fired her second assistant. She promptly apologized, and I could only laugh.

"Christian, can you promise me that Ana won't take me to the mats if I screw up with Andrea?" I have to think about that one, because I'm not entirely sure.

"Probably not. Ana takes her aggression out on the security team most of the time. Sawyer gets to spar with her sometime for keeping my present a secret and I'm not happy about it."

"Are you talking about the Ferris Bueller car? That thing was sweet." Did I hear him right?

"How did you know about it? No one was supposed to know. When did you find out? I might have found a loophole for this moment of stupidity that Ana's having where this match is concerned."

"Woah, man, I saw the delivery and Sawyer was signing something. I figured it was for you. I recognized the car immediately. What loophole are you talking about and what match?" Noah has one hand placed on his hip and I stand and really look at my new friend for a moment. How do I explain this?

I know I'm doing it without Ana here to tell me for once. Running my hand through my hair, I take the last drink of my scotch and place the glass on the table beside us. "Ana and Sawyer have been secretive about the car for over a month. She promised him if he could get it here without anyone finding out, including Taylor, but me especially, then he could have a half hour one armed sparring match with her. She's a tiny thing, but she's deadly when she's got all her faculties about her. Tying an arm behind her back and sending her to the mat with a tank like Sawyer scares me to death. I don't know what I'll do if the CIA calls her in again for more than office work." That's one of my biggest fears.

"Shit, man. Well Sawyer didn't tell me. I made an assumption. Ana told me it was something awesome. I put two and two together when I saw it. Don't ruin the man's fun. Ana has kicked his ass enough. We'll demand to be there, and we can beat the shit out of him if he leaves one mark on your girl." I look at the at the man I once saw as the opposition. Dressed in dark jeans, and a black tshirt, I knew he wouldn't dress up for this crowd. He'd said as much. His dirty blonde hair looks as mussed as mine, but he keeps his closer cropped on the sides.

"Sounds like a plan Noah. I'll leave it be, but Sawyer knows he'll find himself in the unemployment line if he marks Ana." Even I don't believe that. Ana would kick my ass and judging by the guff of laughter bubbling up from the man next to me, Noah knows it to.

Noah slaps my shoulder, being careful to avoid my back. "You're so full of shit man. Christian, you and I both know Ana wouldn't let you fire him. She'll give us shit for sticking up for her either way, but she'll get over it. You try and fire him and we both know what will happen."

"I suggested it once, and she threatened to sleep at Kate's place. I know firing him is an empty threat. I'm just glad she doesn't try to be friends with him. I think it would make it worse for me to deal with." I'm a possessive man, and Ana doesn't see the way men look at her. She doesn't hear the way they talk about her. I can take her friendship with Noah because he's my friend as well. I can take her easy-going nature with Elliot, he doesn't see her that way. My security team though, they all drool when she goes to the gym in her little outfits. They all get turned on just as much as I do watching her kick ass. I let her leave the gym before me once so that I could punch Reynolds, screaming at him to get his hard on under control next time he's around my girl. Taylor laughed so hard at me that day.

"Yeah." Before Noah doesn't say much else as the lights dim, and Gail and Ana come out with a two-tier chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. My favorite. This one is simple with what looks like little white dots around the bottom tier, and the top is covered in chocolate shavings and a single sparkling candle in the middle.

The room breaks out into a quick tune of Happy Birthday and as the girls reach me, I can't wipe the smile on my face. Never in my life have I enjoyed my birthday so thoroughly. I take the last few steps to gather Ana in my arms. "Thank you Snow White. Only you could make me this happy."

"Make a wish my knight." Ana kisses my cheek and I circle my arms around her waist, pulling her back close to my chest. The only wish I have is to be able to call her my wife. Closing my eyes, I silently whisper a prayer to the gods, and blow the candle out.

Looking up I see the crowd gathered. Ana is speaking to Gail, but I'm not paying attention. It's Ray's gaze that catches my eye. There is something there, and I suddenly want to get that man alone to hear what he has to say. Tomorrow is going to be a full day.

* * *

Ray's POV

I let the cat out of the bag earlier and I didn't mean too. I wanted to surprise Annie about my new position and move to Seattle. My interview with the Mayor is just a formality, the only thing to iron out is my start date. I have a couple cases to hand over with NCIS and I'll need to recommend a team chief replacement, but other than that it's done. I plan to find an apartment while I'm here for the next few weeks. I don't need anything fancy or big. It'll just be temporary until I can find some land and a house. I don't like living in the city. I need to spread out, and the closer to the lake the better.

I was serious when I told Christian earlier that I needed to have a private conversation with him before we go to Aspen. I would love to see him propose to my daughter, and Aspen would be perfect. I even have the ring for him. Annie won't want large and expensive. I have my grandmother's ring. I wanted to give it to my wife, but Carla refused it. I had hoped we would have a son together and I could give it to him for his wife, but life doesn't always turn out the way we want it too. Annie would love it though. It's rose gold, and it has a large morganite gemstone instead of a diamond. The stone is a pale peach, and oval. The setting around the stone is something I've never seen before. It's a curved squared bracket design with small diamonds in the corners and the middle of each side where it curves back in toward the stone. There are small diamonds that circle the band as well. It's antique and if my grandmother is to be believed, the ring is almost a hundred years old.

The joy I see between those two is astronomical. They belong together. The sooner the better. Frankly I want them married before the end of the summer. If she becomes Mrs. Grey, I'm sure they'll start the baby talk and then that means she'll leave the CIA sooner. Am I bastard for wanting my daughter married so she'll leave the secret agent life behind? It damn near killed me when I heard she'd been shot in Egypt. Then all the mess that brought Christian into her life. Well, I guess technically, Ana brought that mess into his life. I mean he was the means for the Egyptian bastard used to draw her out. I've never been so happy to carry concealed as I was the day I defended m daughter and shot that man.

I shudder to think what has become my daughter's life. Yes, she has the whole of the government backing her, but she's my little girl. I cried like a baby when she born, and if anything happened to her I'd cry again. Frankly, I'm sick of not knowing what is going on in her life. That shit Friday, I should have known about that years ago. Whoever sent those pictures, I will annihilate him. I probably would have never known if it wasn't for those photos. The whole secret CIA thing, probably wouldn't have known about that if things didn't come to a head back in April. But, here we are. She's still in danger.

I don't like the White House pressuring her to become the face of the CIA. All it will take is one more leak of her codename and she will forever become a marked target. That Mia's damn spoiled little princess posse nearly ruined everything. No, I need to be here. I need to be in Seattle. Christian may have an excellent team to keep her safe, but I can use the entire force of the city to protect her.

The sooner they marry the better. Christian won't put off the baby thing forever, and once they start with that, she'll be done with the CIA. After our talk yesterday, it's a good thing Mr. Finn McKenzie is staying on his side of the room. I'll give Annie till after Aspen, then I'm telling Christian what that punk tried to get her to do. I've spent my life working for the United States government. My work destroyed my marriage, almost took my Annie from me as a teenager, and now with her work I could still lose her. I don't like it one bit.

Annie deserves all the happiness in the world, and I plan to see to it that she gets it. Oh great, here comes Carrick. I still don't like the man. I know he still doubts Annie, and I'd bet a million dollars he corners Christian within an hour of their engagement and demands he get a prenup. Stupid stupid man.

* * *

Grace POV

I've never seen my son so happy. Both of my sons actually. Elliot hasn't stepped away from Ana's friend all night and Brooklynne looks just as smitten as her father. Mia, oh my darling girl, we have done a disservice to you. I don't know what Christian's plans are for her tomorrow, but I hope they include him taking her credit card away and forcing her to get a job. I know it's what I intend to do. She will need help for a bit with her basic expenses, but she's only a year younger than Ana. I had hoped that after the Lily debacle, that Mia would want more for her life.

She is out all night some nights, and I know she's an adult. She thinks we don't know when she comes home late. I also know that she's tried to lose her CPO a few times. They've never interfered with her life, but maybe I need to ask Christian to put them on curfew duty.

Watching Christian open gifts tonight, he was like a little kid. It's hard to give gifts to the man who can buy himself whatever he wants, but I was happy to surprise him. I was serious about the wedding though. I know he'll propose soon. If he's not already planned it, he'll be in the process of it. It's going to be the society event of the year. I should start on the guest list this week. Christian won't want to wait a year to properly plan, if I know my boy. I want to be prepared. I'd ask Mia to help, but she would go overboard and order something like butterflies for when they kiss. I wonder if Christian will get upset if I start calling around asking for availabilities at different venues. Most places book up a year in advance.

"Grace, I want to say thank you for inviting me." Nadine Leonard is a good friend. Her husband, Randall, works with Carrick and has been there for us over the years. She's the one I've confided in the most since what Christian's security calls BrunchGate. "We wouldn't have forgotten to include you. Did you get to say hi to Christian and Ana?" Ana has been so shy about meeting anyone that was at the house that awful day, not that I blame her.

"I did get to speak to Ana earlier. She's a lovely young lady. Very well put together. You should ask her about taking Elena's spot on the board. She would be perfect. Surely she can find time even with her position at GEH. We only officially meet once a month with the exception of the last few months leading up to the annual gala. She'd be much better suited than that tart Adrienne Flemming." Nadine is a great gal, but she's one of the worsts gossips in Seattle.

"What do you know of Adrienne?" I want an opinion from someone other than Christian. I like this girl and I don't want to think that she's got me fooled. Wouldn't be the first time though. I hate thinking of what the vile woman did to my son and the fact that I brought her into our lives.

"I know she thinks she's going to be the next Mrs. Grey. She sees Ana as a roadblock that she just needs to find a way around. She's already found Christian's PA and asked to schedule a private lunch with him this week. She also tried to pry all kinds of details from Mia. Thankfully, Mia is too hung up on that boy she brought to pay her any attention. Last I saw of her, she was talking to Marty Eccles's wife and tried to spin a tale about Ana started out as a secretary at GEH. That girl needs to get up to date on her current events and start reading that rag _Seattle Nooz_. Maybe she'd have something of a clue then." I sigh, because I know if Christian finds any of this out he'll run Adrienne out of town. Her bastard of an ex-husband did that to her once already. I won't let it happen again.

"I'll talk to her Nadine. Besides, out of all the women here, Kimberley Eccles would be the least likely to listen to what any of us say. She's known as the Seattle vault for a reason. She won't get anything out of Kim, and Kim won't listen to what she has with any real credence." At least I hope not. Kim would be the first to tell Christian what's is being said though. Marty has been with Christian as his chief legal advisor since he started GEH. If there was anyone in that building trusted as much as Ana, Ros, and Taylor, it's Marty.

"Just keep her away from Christian if you see her. I'll try and find her and see if I can convince her to find someone else to set her sights on." Good gracious, I wanted tonight to be without drama for Christian. I want him to act his age for once. Seeing the way he and Ana touch each other, without hesitation, the way he easily laughs with the young man he's talking to. It's a wonder to see.

I walk around the room and finally spot Adrienne. She's talking to Christian's COO, Ros Bailey and I think the woman with her is her partner Gwen. I head to them and I immediately stop in my tracks when I hear the words coming out of Adrienne's mouth. I'm going to have to get her to leave. Ros can't stop smiling and Gwen looks like she's choking in order to hold in her laugh.

"You are his number two. Surely you find fault in him hiring a secretary to run your security. I don't understand why your board hasn't removed her. Christian must have retained the majority of the shares in the company or they could just kick him out. Correct?" Lord help me with this woman.

"Miss, I don't know you. I don't need to explain Christian's company to you. But, I'll give you $100 to walk up to Christian and suggest his board might kick out his secretary girlfriend if he doesn't do it himself." Oh no, Ros what are you doing?

"Well I don't need the money, I got millions from my ex. I wanted to meet with Christian and treat him to a special lunch in his office this week, but that PA that he has now refused to let me schedule anything with him. She lied to my face and told me that he had no available slots this week. I'll try and see if I can get him away from her. Do you think you could convince him to have dinner with me this week if I can't get lunch?"

"If you can get him away from Ana and not get kicked out of here, I'll get you dinner with Christian for sure." By now Ros has seen me and she's smiling wide. She's setting this woman up. I have to stop this.

"Ros, you and I will become fast friends. Maybe once Christian is free he'll a man who would like to date you." Gwen was in the middle of drinking her champagne when that line came out of Adrienne's mouth and spits it all out on Ros. Ros is really laughing now and so am I. Adrienne looks over her shoulder and spots me.

"Grace, I was just talking to Ros here. She's going to help me with Christian and then we're going to find her a man of her own." Adrienne looks proud of herself for the plan she's come up with. "We need to convince Christian to take action before his board of directors does it for him. You will help me, won't you? I know how much you love your son." What was I thinking?

"Adrienne, Christian doesn't have a board of directors." I start to tell her everything that was wrong with the plan I just heard.

"Damn, I'm going to owe Ros $100. Thanks Grace." Gwen looks to be recovering from the champagne incident.

Ignoring that statement, I turn back to Adrienne. "Christian owns his company out right. I think he gifted Ros with a small percentage a few years ago, but otherwise, Christian owns the whole of GEH. As for Ros getting a man of her own, well I think Gwen would be upset with that."

"Why would she be upset? I know she's Ros's partner at work, but surely they aren't all work and no play." How obtuse can you get?

"Ros and Gwen are married to each other. Gwen doesn't work for GEH. She's the principal at Seattle Prep's middle school. Let's leave these ladies to themselves and you and I have a talk." I grab Adrienne by the arm and slowly start to steer her toward the entry foyer.

As we circle the room, I see my youngest son drag his girlfriend to the middle of the room and start dancing to the song being played. I think they danced to this at the Gala at some point. Stopping Adrienne I point to Christian and Ana on the floor. "That man is in love with that woman. I don't know why you are going around insinuating she was a secretary, but I can tell you that Ana doesn't answer phones, make coffee, or file away copies for anyone but herself. She is a successful businesswoman in her own right. She doesn't need Christian to take care of her financially. That's why those two will be together forever. What they have is based on love, trust, and understanding. I wanted you to meet my family and our friends. I know what happened to you in New York was horrible, but tonight, you've shown to several people that you are the money grubbing harlot your ex husband made you out to be." I turn back to Adrienne and I see the crestfallen look on her face. "Whatever designs you have on my son, I suggest you get over them. If I hear another bad word has come from your mouth regarding Ana, I will smear your name all over this town. I don't want to write you off, but I've had enough predators come into our lives and focus on my children. I don't need another one."

With that I turn back toward the entry and guide Adrienne toward the elevator. I don't know which member of security this is, he looks new, but I address him knowing he will do what needs to be done. "Make sure she leaves the building and remind her of her NDA. I'd give Taylor a heads up about her when this is all over as well." I'll talk to Ana this week, because if I talk to Christian he will explode.

I reenter the great room and see that the song has changed again, and my other two children have joined Christian and Ana in their dance. This is what I've always wanted for my children. Unbridled happiness.

"We raised some good kids." I turn to the left and see Ray Steele standing next to me.

"We did. We're not done yet though." Christian is still so young in so many ways. I have to take a deep breath to calm myself and not try to think about the ways I failed him as a mother.

"Whatever you're thinkin' Grace, stop. If you failed him as a mother because of the abuse he experienced, then that means I failed Annie. She is not without her own tales to tell. Those two were meant for each other. They were meant to heal one another, and no matter what we think, I doubt we could have changed anything. Their fate was written long ago, and they needed to travel the paths they did to each other." Deep thoughts from what most assume is a simple man.

"You're right Ray. You're right. Now want to put $500 on them being engaged before the end of the summer?" I'm determined to get this party started. I want more grandkids, and as controlled as Christian is, a surprise pregnancy won't happen, neither will a child be born without the Grey name.

"$1000 to Coping Together says they're engaged before the end of the month." He seems assured but I know Christian will be on the search for the perfect ring and that will take time.

"You're on." We shake hands and turn our attention to the growing crowd of people dancing.

* * *

Christian's POV

I don't think I've ever had this much fun. Ana pulled me into an empty space in the room to dance when 'Danke Schoen' played. It was fitting to dance to Ferris Bueller's parade float song after being gifted with the Ferris Bueller car today. Everything about today has been perfect. Wayne Newton morphed into Brian McKnight, and now some song I've never heard before is playing. It's a fun song.

"What is this song?" I hope Ana knows it, because I want to add it to the iPod. I twirl her out and back to me and bring her around with her back pressed to my front.

"It's Kelly Clarkson, Love so Soft." The words started out strong and turn to a whispered moan as I grind into her from behind. Before she can do anything else, I grab her left hand with my right, place my left hand on her hip and twirl her back out. When she comes back to me Ana tosses both her hands in the air. Dancing with me. I place my hands on her hips, my left leg squeezed between hers as we move to the groove.

Her smile is infectious, and I can't keep mine off my face, even with all my controlled Dom training I've had. Her voice sings with the melody and I'm ensnared. "We'd be doing all kinds things I know you wanna do."

Her right hands comes down to curve around the back of my neck. She brings my ear down toward her ear. "But I need, need to know, need to know." She pushes me back so that she can look me in the eye. "Will you protect, respect me if I let you close?"

Like that is ever a real question. She knows the answer because she just smiles as the chorus starts in. We dance close, my hands on her hips, she keeps moving her in these dipping circles. Every so often she tilts her hips and grinds her core on my hardening cock. Torture, sweet, sweet torture is what this is.

The tune slows down a bit and she brings both arms around my neck, as I pull her tight, crushing her to me as she sings the bridge. "If you want this love, got to hold it tight." I tighten my hold just a smidge, resting one hand at the small of her back, and the other toward the top, anchoring her to me. "Never let it go, baby, let it give you life."

She repeats her words again as we do a move that I can only described as being inspired by the ending of movie Dirty Dancing. The melody picks back up as the chorus rings out again. We pull back apart, smiling at each other, dancing with each other, not paying any attention to anyone else on the floor with us. I grab her hand again and spin her in circles as we move around.

Now how long before I can get everyone to leave to see just how soft her love is. Love so soft indeed.


	13. Chapter 12

2/9/18

 **A/N: I've said it before and I'll say it again. My Ana written my way don't care. I have read all your reviews from the last chapter. I wanted to reply to a few of you, especially those of you that review after each chapter. However, FanFiction seems to be having some issue. My reviews are coming to my email and I can see the review count increase on the story page, but I can't read any of them when you try to open the review link. I'm not sure what that is about. Please don't let this stop you from reviewing this chapter. If you have a question, I will try and take the time this week to private message with answers.**

 **As always for those that are worried, I do not write cheat fic. There will always be a HEA but expect some bumps along the way. It can't be all sunshine and rainbows. And this is a work of fiction, if I want Ana to have twenty orgasms in one sex session, she can. I've pushed ten before with my husband, I'm sure Christian can get her to twenty. This story isn't meant to be completely believable. It's fiction, not real life.**

 **The characters aren't mine, blah blah, no copyright, blah, El James thanks lady.**

 **Oh! I'm seeing Fifty Shades Freed tomorrow night. Fingers crossed it lives up to my dreams. I had a pal send me a link earlier to a Cosmo article talking about how unbelievable the sex scenes are in the movie. Here's to hoping mine are better.**

 **No Beta, mistakes are my own, deal with it. Love you bunches. Kissy Boo Boo.**

 **And another note real quick, there is a scene at the end. Christian was listening to Juicy J** ** _"I Got You(I Feel Good)"_** **From the fifty Shades Freed soundtrack, out today. I played it on repeat while I wrote that scene. I'm playing it tonight too. ;) Oh and my Pinterest board is updated. There is a link to the playlist for the party. It includes the Juicy J song as well as the Kelly Clarkson song from the dance Ana and Christian shared.**

 **Laters**

* * *

 **A Steele Love**

Chapter 12

Ana's POV

Tonight, has turned out to be a better night than I had ever expected. Some of the older crowd started leaving a bit ago. All of my CIA team is gone. I notice Finn pinned down close to Christian's office earlier with Dad. I can only imagine what that was about, but I'm leaving it alone tonight. Most of GEH's staff has left as well.

Looking around the room I take note of those still here. All of Christian's family, Mia's boyfriend, Kate, Dad, Noah, and Andrea are all still here. John and his wife Rhainn seem to be saying their goodbyes to Christian now. Claude gave me a shoulder pat on his way out. I'm gonna kick his ass this week. Andrea looks to be deep in conversation with Noah. Oh, he kissed her forehead, how sweet. I watch the two of them and a soft smile plays on my face. Noah is a really nice guy. I was serious though, Andrea is irreplaceable and if he messes up I'll kick his ass too.

"Ana, I'm going to head out. I have to be in the office early to ensure I'm ready for the week without an assistant again." Yeah, that's not going to be fun for Andrea.

"Thank you for coming. I'll see you tomorrow, I'm sure I'll be upstairs at some point." Maybe Brook and I can sneak in some time with him. "Can you forward his schedule for the week to Hannah tomorrow when you nail it down please?"

"I can most certainly do that for you. Do you need a specific time tomorrow with him?" I try to think over what I've got on my plate for tomorrow. I've got Brook in the morning, Kate at lunch, SIP in the afternoon.

"No, I've got a full plate for the day. I won't be taking his lunch hour tomorrow. I do want fifteen minutes in the morning though. I've got Brooklynne spending the morning with me while Elliot takes care of some things. I think she would love to see Uncle Christian at work and make sure he's using his new mug." I can't help the smile when I think of Christian with her. We introduced Brook to Andrea earlier in the night so that Brook could ensure Andrea understood the importance of his new mug.

"I can make that work. I'm fully briefed about the mug. I'll have the coffee ready when he gets there. See you tomorrow Ana. Thanks for inviting me tonight. It was nice to see Christian outside of the office like this." Everyone has been giving me thanks tonight. I've had this conversation with Andrea once before. Everyone tells me how much I've changed Christian for the better. No matter how many times I say it, people just don't listen. Christian was already changing when I met him. He was already opening up to possibilities. Besides, if I changed Christian for the better, he's done the same for me.

"Have a good night Andrea." She walks to the entry way and I watch Noah rush over to her and hug her before she gets on the elevator. Noah walks casually back to me, stopping for a beer before joining me on the sectional.

"Ana, I can't thank you enough for inviting me tonight. Andrea's a great girl." He takes a sip of his beer, smile shining under the round neck of his bottle as it touches his lips.

"Don't screw it up and we'll be good. I'm glad you could make it tonight. It's nice seeing Christian make friends outside of GEH and his family. You know you're welcome up here anytime. Well…" Now I'm blushing. Christian had given him the code last week, so they could watch a game together. I didn't know we were going to have company and I pretty much attacked Christian the minute we arrived home from GEH. Thankfully Christian was too impatient and couldn't take the time to do more than rip my panties and raise the front of my skirt out of the way.

"Yeah, I'll be sure to ring Christian before I actually get on an elevator again. Although, your security is right. You've got a nice ass." Now he's laughing at my embarrassment. I grab one of the throw pillows on the sofa and slap him in the face with it.

"You're an ass. I take it back. You can't come here anymore." We're both burst into laughter and I barely notice when some of the others start to gather around the sitting area with us.

"What's so funny Aunt Ana?" Oh, my Brooklynne.

"Noah here was making fun of me for an embarrassing moment I had last week. Now tell me, did you get enough cake tonight?" I watch her eat her own cake and then finagle a second piece from Christian and then got bites from her Dad and Kate's slices.

"I got so much cake. I'm getting sleepy though. Aunt Ana, do we get to have meetings tomorrow? Grampa said that you do important work with Uncle Christian and I need to be on my best behavior at the office. What's a pof, prof, prefesion?"

"Do you mean professional?" I watch her head nod in confirmation and proceed to answer. "Well, it's someone that does their job in a certain manner that is expected of them. It's different for every person depending on our job. For Grampa, it's a briefcase and a suit when he leaves for the office. When he's in court he's expected to act and talk a certain way. Grammy Grace wears scrubs at work and she's messy with her job sometimes depending on what she needs to do to help her patients. Your daddy, he gets to wear jeans and boots. He has lots of tools and gets really dirty and sweaty sometimes. For Christian and I, we work in the big building that your Daddy built years ago. I'll show you as much of the place as I can. Christian and I have very different jobs. I have a meeting tomorrow, but you can sit in with me. I'll get you your own chair so that you can sit behind the desk with me."

Brooklynne regards me closely for a bit and then looks at me with a confused look. "I won't be in the way. You won't get in trouble for having me there?" What the?

"Not at all monkey. Why would you think that? I'm excited to have you at the office with me." The little blonde beauty next to me must be really tired. She looks close to tears. Someone said something and I'm going to rip that person a new asshole if she does cry.

"I heard Grampa telling Mia that little kids don't belong in the office. She wants me to stay with her tomorrow, but I want to go with you and Daddy says I get to see where he works tomorrow." I look over the top of Brooklynne's head to Carrick and sharpen my features. I can tell he looks contrite, but I'll speak with him tomorrow. Christian can deal with his spoilt brat of a sister tomorrow on his own.

"Wanna know the good thing about coming to work with me tomorrow?" Brook nods her head quickly. "I'm the boss on my floor. That means that only Christian can tell me what to do. Do you think he'll tell me I can't have my adorable niece at the office with me?" She shakes her head no as quickly as her previous yes. "So, if I want to bring you with me, I can. We've got important work to do though. We need to hire two new people tomorrow. Mr. Taylor is stealing some of my good guys for himself. So, we've got four interviews in the morning. Then we have a meeting with Uncle Christian in his office to give him an update on protocols. Plus, you need to ensure that Andrea is fixing his coffee properly in the correct mug. We also have to test the newest alarms. That means we get to try and sneak into areas that other people aren't supposed to get into and hide and wait to see how long before someone finds us. You any good at hide and seek?"

"Am I good? I'm the bestest. Do we really get to play hide and seek at work?" She's awake now.

"You betcha. I've got to make sure my team isn't resting on their behinds instead of paying attention. We've got a few tricks to play too. Think we can trick Mr. Taylor and Mr. Sawyer?" I've got a set of cloned cards that should trip a panic alarm and I want to make sure everyone is following the new measures I put in place at the beginning of the month.

"I'm good with tricks too. Is that all we're doing?" She seems excited and I can't wait for tomorrow morning now.

"Well, Kate is coming to my office for lunch. Want to join us for that before your Daddy picks you up?" That's when Brook squeals and starts clapping her hands.

"Girls' lunch? Already? This is oh so awesome. You're the best Aunt Ana. I love you!" She throws her arms around her and attempts to squeeze my life force from me.

"I love you too Monkey. We'll decide what we want tomorrow." Looking at my watch I note it's closing in on 9:30 pm. "You need to get a good night's sleep though. You need to be bright and shiny for the day we're going to have at the office tomorrow."

Grace stands and addresses the gang. "I think you're right Ana. We all do have work tomorrow. You've still got things to do around here tonight. Brooklynne, do you want to ride home with me and I'll get you in bed tonight?" I raise an eyebrow because I'm not sure why Grace would need to put her to bed. Noah must have seen my confused look because he nudges me with his elbow and points his beer bottle to the kissing teenagers in the corner of the opposite sofa. Okay. Well Kate and I have lots to talk about tomorrow.

"Can I have a bubble bath?" Brooklynne suddenly looks tired again and I wonder if she'll be asleep before they reach Bellevue. I grab the pillow I hit Noah with earlier and send it flying across the space. I nail Elliot with the navy blue puff in the back of the head and he jerks away from Kate.

"What the fuck?" He looks irate. Grace starts to stalk toward her oldest and I can't help but laugh.

"Daddy, you know you can't say dirty words. What did Momma tell you? She made you promise not to say those words anymore. What did she say?" Elliot's little girl is standing now and stomping her foot in a very Grace Grey manner. I have to hide my laughter though, Grace has an eyebrow cocked and has come to stand with her granddaughter.

"Your daughter asked you a question young man. We expect an answer." Oh yeah, this is good. Christian isn't even trying to hide his laughter now. Get him Momma Grey.

"Dirty words shouldn't be heard by pretty ears." It's a mumbled reply and now we're all laughing at him. Kate is trying to hide hers, but the swollen lips and her mussed hair make me laugh further. I point to my lips when I catch her eye. Kate touches her lips and her eyes go wide and she starts fussing over her appearance.

"Let's go, Elliot. Brooklynne has requested a bubble bath, and we can't afford for anyone to be late for tomorrow's meetings." Momma Grey has spoken.

Everyone stands now. I can spy Gail in the corner of the room speaking with some of the staff from earlier clearing the trays away and cleaning up.

Christian holds a hand up to stop everyone from leaving. "Everyone, I want to thank you for coming tonight. This meant the world to me. I know I've always given everyone a hard time about my birthday, but I truly enjoyed myself tonight. So, thank you." Christian makes his way around the group hugging each member of his family. Dad and Noah each get one of those one armed back slap hugs. I'm shocked. I know he's been doing better with his touch issues when it comes to his family, but that surprises even me. Dad looks stunned as well.

"Uncle Christian, Christian!" Brook is pulling on his pants and he looks down before bending down to pick her up.

"What is it Monkey?"

"Did I really get you the best present?" Brook has both hands on his cheeks and is very serious.

"Absolutely. I'm taking it tomorrow with me. I can't wait for your Daddy to come in the office this week to talk about my new house so he can see it sitting on my desk. You did good Monkey." She smiles and smacks a kiss to his lips and circles her arms around his neck. I can hear her voice, but I can't make out the words of what she's whispering. I watch the exchange and see his grip on her tighten. Christian turns toward me and I catch his gaze.

My next breath is caught in my throat because I see tears welling in his eyes. What is going on? I take the few needed strides toward the duo and place a hand on each of their backs. Brook pulls back, and I can see tears in her eyes. She instantly throws one of her arms around my neck and Christian pulls me into their embrace.

"See Brook. Ana is with us. She'll be just fine. There are lots of people that look after her. She'll show you tomorrow. No one is taking her from you. She will always be your Aunt." Those words cause my grip to tighten and I realize what Brook is worried about.

"We're all safe Brooklynne. Don't you worry. We protect the ones we love. I'll show you tomorrow. Your uncle employees an army of men in black. I'll have them all at the office tomorrow so that you can see. I promise sweetheart. Everyone is safe." Lord, please don't make me ever break my promise to her.

"We love you monkey. It's past your bed time though. Let's get you to your Daddy." When Christian pulls back I can see everyone looking on. I wipe the tears from my eyes quickly. Christian says a few words to his brother and then I see him beckon Taylor with a crook of his finger and he storms off to his office. Shit, someone is getting yelled at.

"Thank you everyone for coming."

* * *

Christian's POV

I need someone to remind me that I can't punch a man I've never met. It's been a while since I was filled with this much rage. I was angry last night hearing that this Hyde fucker thinks he has some kind of claim on Ana and what he's done to Brooklynne but hearing Brook's worried cries for her was like waving a red cape in front of a bull.

"Sir." Taylor was quick to follow me.

"I want to know everything on this fucker. I want to know what he ate on his first day of kindergarten, I want to know why he thinks he can have Ana. I'm going to need everyone at Grey House tomorrow. Leave the normal team on Leila and Hyde, same for the team going with my parents tomorrow. The rest of security is to be at Grey House in Ana's war room at 9 o'clock. Everyone. If we have to pay overtime I don't give a shit." I'm pacing. I don't know what else to do, but that little girl was truly scared for her Aunt. I promised we would protect her and I need to prove to her we can keep that promise.

"Christian." I hear Ana's soft voice and see her and Ray both standing just inside my doorway. I stride purposefully toward her and gather her in my arms.

"No one will get to you. I promise you that." Pressing a kiss to her forehead before resting my own against hers, I take a deep breath.

Feeling her arms snake around me and a hand press tight against the middle of my back I relax into her embrace. "I know all this. We need to get everyone together tomorrow so that Brooklynne can meet with them. I have back to back interviews starting at 9:45, you think we can get it done before then?"

"Already on it baby. They'll be in your war room at 9."

"Good. Now let's let Taylor brief us on the happenings from today." She pulls back and moves to sit on the couch with her father.

"Taylor, any issues from today?" I go to sit behind my desk. I have a few files I should probably go through tonight, but I'll take them with me tomorrow instead.

"We had a few. Your mother had us remove Adrienne Flemming. Just a heads up, I expect her to show up at Grey House this week unannounced."

Ana speaks up before Taylor can continue. "Have her brought to my office when she does. If I'm out, put her in one of the secure conference rooms and call me. She comes in without an appointment and she can wait for me to get back." Hmm. That's interesting.

"Yes ma'am. Next item, we had a young woman try to come in with the catering staff. She didn't match the ID on file. She tried to say it was okay that she would sign the NDA, but when she was searched, she had an extra cell phone in a pocket. I sent one of the security members on standby to follow her home. Her address match another we have on file." Taylor looks sheepish and I have a feeling I won't like this.

"Whose address was it Taylor?"

"Jenny Frazier." Shit. Damnit Ray is in here. Fuck, I've told him about my past already.

"Was it her? What was the last status report on her?"

"Ana's report is on file from April. That was the last update we had on her. I pulled it earlier. At the time, she was applying to law schools. We don't have confirmation if the woman here was her or not. The name of the employee that was supposed to be here tonight is Melissa Perry. We have the cursory vetted check on her. I'll find out more tomorrow."

"Ana, can you check both of them in depth tomorrow?" I look over at Ana and see her on her phone.

"I already text Griff and told him to get to the office early tomorrow and get it going. Send over the footage from the garage and service elevator from tonight as well. He can run facial software. But really how big of a coincidence would it be for this to not be Jenny and have the girl go to that address?"

"You're right. I'm not sure what's going on there, it may be nothing, but we'll figure it out. It might be good to run all fifteen again. Can that be done?"

"I can run them all, it will take some time, and the FBI is still trying to find a few of them. Remember are some thought to have fallen victim to Elena and Sabbah's operation." I sit back in my chair and run my fingers through my hair. This was such a good night before now.

"I forgot about that. I.." Before I can continue Ray's butting in.

"Nothing you can do son. Those women weren't your responsibility when your relationship with them ended. You and Annie will figure it out. I'm going to head to bed. I want to get a run in tomorrow before we all head to the office. Think I can catch a ride with you?"

"Yeah, you can hitch a ride with us Daddy. We're leaving at 7:30. We've got a lot to do. I assume you want to be there when Brook meets the team. Need to see the force yourself?" Ana's not even trying to hide the mirth behind her eyes.

"You know me well sweetpea. I'll hang with you and the nugget in the morning. Maybe Christian can show me around like he's been promising me in the afternoon." That's right he needs a private conversation.

"Sounds good with me Ray. I'll have Andrea make us some reservations for lunch since the girls will be occupied with each other." I make a note in my phone so that I don't forget tomorrow.

"I don't like Mongolian or Mexican food." With that Ray stands and exits the room.

"Anything else Taylor?"

"We had an uneventful night where security was concerned. I'd like an hour tomorrow afternoon when Miss Steele returns from SIP. We need to sort the personal teams and decide about who to place at the house. The quicker I know what and who we need, the sooner I can formulate protocols and hire more if needed." Taylor is as straight laced as always when in work mode.

"You'll need to hire more Taylor. We need to assign a female to Brook and myself as well. You can put the word out tomorrow. You should be okay with who we already have in place for the next few weeks at least." Ana answers him before I can.

"We'll see you tomorrow afternoon and discuss it more Taylor. You're all dismissed for the night. Ensure that the hired staff have all exited before closing up the place. We'll see you in the morning. I think I'll tag along with Ray for his run. What about you Ana?" I start around my desk and see her standing.

"Nah, I'm going to sit with Gail in the morning and discuss the week." I love that she's so comfortable around here and has taken charge of so much of the household.

"Okay." I grab her hand and lead her to the bedroom. I've been aching for hours needing to be inside her and finally we're going to be alone.

"Mr. Grey, you seem to be in a hurry to get across the hall." Damn right I am. I barely get her in the bedroom and get the door shut before I cover her mouth with my own.

"All night long I have been teased. You denied me this morning, you denied me this afternoon. Are you going to deny me now?" I've walked her back toward the end of our bed, where the padded bench is, punctuating each word with a kiss. "Turn around." She looks up at me a little dazed. "Now!"

The Dom is brimming just under the surface looking for release. I let him out a little bit the other night, but that was to quell her need. Now I need her submissive and pliant quelling mine.

"Yes, sir." She's docile in her response and immediately shows me her back. I sweep the hair from her neck and sweep it to one side. I place small chaste kissed along the line of her neck and down to her shoulder.

"As much as I love this dress on you, I think it will look better on the floor take it off. Don't turn around either." I step back to watch her drop the dress. I begin to unbutton my shirt as Ana reaches behind her and undoes the tie to the corset string at the small of her back. Once it's loosened, she slips the straps of each shoulder down her arm, holding the front of the dress up still. She looks over her shoulder at me with heavy lids, lashes brushing her cheeks when she looks back down. I drop my shirt on the floor and start to unbuckle my belt. I take it slowly knowing she can hear the rustle of the leather as it pulls through each loop.

"I told you not to turn around Anastasia. Drop the dress, now." Authoritative and stern, I see a shiver pass through her before the dress rustles to the ground. Fuck, shit, Damn it. DAMN!

"Have this been all you've worn all night?" She's standing before me giving the best view of her delectably tight ass. Nothing was on under that dress. She's in nothing but her lacey heels.

"Yes, sir. I wanted to please you when everyone left tonight." He voice is small and timid. She's playing the submissive well.

"I love you Anastasia, but you were walking around unencumbered with my friends and co-workers here tonight. All the security staff were able to see the lack of panty line. Your nipples were rubbing against my chest while we were dancing. Were you trying to provoke me in front of my grandparents?" Damn this woman.

"No, I only thought of you when I dressed tonight sir." What a fucking beautifully perfect response.

"You told me this morning you wanted to go in the playroom. Was there a specific reason why you wanted to be in there?"

"I wanted to give my entire self over to you. Even the parts we haven't played with." This wasn't what I was expecting. I pop the button on my slacks and push them down, so I'm left in my boxer briefs before I walk up behind her. Stopping mere inches from her. I start at the top of her back and trail a single finger down her back grazing down between her cheeks.

"Is this the part you were speaking of?" Her breath hitches and I hear a moan before a response passes her lips.

"Yes sir." Lovely. I'm going to love playing with her. She can't take me fully tonight, not for the first time, it would hurt to much and I'll tell her as much.

"We'll play. You can't take me fully tonight. We have to train you before we can do that. You have a few transgressions to atone for tonight though. Bend over the bench and place your hands on the foot of the bed. I'm going to get a few things. I don't want so see you moved from that position till I tell you to."

Ana promptly drops over the bench and places both hands on the bed as I told her. I stride to the walk-in closet to gather the necessary items for tonight. I think I'll introduce her to the nipple clamps as well as her first butt plug. Ensuring I grab the lube as well, I decide to pick up one more item. Yes, this will do nicely tonight. She wants to play, we'll play.

"Keep your head down Ana. Don't look at the bench." I place the items down on the bench as I walk to my dresser and pick up my iPod. Selecting a song, I drop my boxers so that I am as naked as she. Damn those were starting to feel constricting. I pad back across the floor toward her just as I hear the voice of Juicy J fill the air and I have to agree with her. I feel good.

"Do you know what your misdemeanors were today?" I place a hand on her left cheek and she startles for a moment.

"No sir." Her breath is but a sensual whisper.

"Let's start with this morning. Your insistence about the playroom. I was forced to talk about things I wasn't ready to discuss." I pick up paddle and feel it's weight in my hand. It's a thin piece of wood wrapped in soft velvety leather and lined with fur on one side. I twirl it in my hand for a few seconds before I brush the fur lined side down her back. "Then there was the car. It was a ridiculous gift. I love it, but you kept it a secret from me." When the fur reaches the bottom of her back I twirl it around in my hand and bring the leather side down on the top of her right cheek. "You will count and apologize after each strike."

"Yes, sir. One, I'm sorry sir." Her voice is already showing her lust.

"You agreed to this stupid and ridiculous match with Sawyer. Do you realize how hard it will be to not fire him when it's over? You're going to force me to fight him when it's done. That's two Anastasia, because I know you will argue with me on both counts." Before she can respond I bring the leather down in two successive swats on the left cheek of her ass. Yes, her skin is starting to pink up nicely.

Her moans slip out and I think I am being a little to lax on her. "You didn't count or apologize Anastasia. That has earned you five extra. Now give me the proper response so we can continue.

"I'm sorry sir. Two, I'm sorry. Three I'm sorry sir."

"Now let's talk about Miss Flemming. You walked off with Andrea and allowed me to be mauled by her cougar paws and sticky lips." I bring the paddle down a little harsher than last time across the center of both cheeks.

"Four, I'm sorry sir." I rub the skin with the palm of my left hand and get a strong hold before I tell her next crime.

"Do you know how much I love you? You have made it physically impossible for me to live without you now. That means I'm constantly worried about your safety, and so is our niece. Count." I bring three strikes scatter across the globes of her now red ass.

"Five, Six, Seven, I'm sorry sir." I decide to move around her and switch sides. Trailing the fur lined side down her back and up around her shoulders again. I reach between her legs and barely graze her before I register the wetness there. Good, I want her as wonton as she can be.

"Then we come in here and I find out you're wearing nothing but the dress tonight. You parade around what was mine in front of all those men." I give her three more bringing the total to ten. "Stand up and turn around."

She does so promptly. "Eight, nine, ten, sir. I'm sorry." Good she didn't forget this time.

"Clasp your hands together behind your head." Instantly her submissive response makes the Dom in me roar to life. Her breasts are perky and lifted beautifully. I pick up the clamps and show them to her. "These are adjustable, and the tips are covered so you shouldn't feel much pain. The chain will add a little weight and I can pull it to increase the sensation as well."

I take one nipple in my mouth and tease it to a peak before I pull back and place the clamp and repeat on the other side. Ana doesn't even try to stop her moans. "Hush." I take the clamped nipple back in my mouth and hear the sharp hiss that escapes between her teeth. "Turn back around and bend back over." She should feel the weight of the chain nicely now.

"You get the last five swats for not showing the proper respect. You don't need to count these or apologize till the last one. Stay quiet until then." I take one step back and admire the view. Shit I need to be down there between her legs. I think a little torture is necessary before continuing. I go to my knees and drag the tip of my tongue from her clit to the rosebud of uncharted territory. I probe against her back entrance listening to her little mewling sounds. She tries to squirm, and I slap her right cheek hard as I trail down to her dripping core. "Be still Anastasia." I tease her for only a few moments before standing back up.

I lift the paddle once more and fire off on her cheeks a rain of blows a little harsher than any previous spanking I've ever given her. The minute that swat five comes down, I drop the paddle and slam into her. I hold her to me with a digging grasp to her hips and wait to hear her response.

"Yes. I'm sorry sir. Please, please Christian." At her urging I pound her furiously, eager to give her the first orgasm of the night. Just as her walls to tighten I reach under her and tug on the chain connected to the clamps. She screams out her pleasure and I promptly pull out and drop back to taste her. I reach for the lube and plug as I continue to tease her. Once the lube is in my grasp, I trail my tongue to her virgin opening.

Teasing her is a highlight of my night. She soft ring of muscle gives easily, but the minute my tongue seeps in, she tenses. I pull back. "You have to relax Anastasia, or you could get hurt."

"I'm sorry." It's a soft whisper and I decide to move forward. Flipping the top of the lube open, I squeeze a moderate amount on her opening. Using first one finger to push some of the lubricant in. Working my finger in and out I can feel her tense.

"Breath Ana and relax. I've got you baby. I'll take care of you. Push out and it will help ease everything in." I press a kiss to one of her still reddened cheeks. When I pull my finger back this time I add a second when I enter her again. Scissoring my fingers as they move in her, I trail my tongue to her clit and bring the swollen nub between my teeth. Just when I feel like she's close to cumming, I grab the chain of her clamps and tug.

Detonating around my fingers, Ana nearly collapses on the bench. Pulling my fingers from her passage, I help lift her onto her knees on the bench. Her head is resting on the bed and she's completely relaxed. Adding a little more lube to the plug, I take my time working it in while she's relaxed. Her moan once it's entered brings a smile to my face.

"How many more of those orgasms do you have left in you Snow White? I want at least two more from you." I hear a groan and I give her an answering chuckle when I click the button on the bottom of the plug and bring it to life with vibrations. "Hold on baby, it's about to be a rough ride."

Taking my time, instead of slamming home, I ease my dick inside of her. I don't think I've ever been this hard, and I'm practicing some major constraint to keep from spewing the minute I bottom out inside of her. I take my time and ease myself slowly in and out of her. She's trying to urge me on, thrusting back against me, but it's not going to work. I leave one hand on her hip and use the other to reach under her and pull her back up against my chest so that I can thrust under her.

"I control your orgasm Anastasia. You cum only when I allow it. I grip her throat to turn her mouth toward mine and take her in a searing kiss. A kiss I'll remember for days. A kiss she'll never forget. Just as I start to increase my pace I take the hand from her throat and release the clamp from first the right nipple, earning a gasp. As I reach the second nipple, I tug gently. Her walls start to convulse around me and I yank the chain to pull it off.

I cover her scream with my mouth and kiss her with all I am worth. "You. Are. Mine." I keep my left arm anchored to her hip and the right hooked under her arm, banded across her chest gripping her left shoulder tightly. My Dom comes unleashed when I hear her response.

"I'm yours, sir." I can't hold back anymore. I give her the rough pounding I promised. When I feel I'm close, I push her forward, her hands gripping the bed spread under her. Just as I start to feel her tighten around me again, I pull the plug from her. Ana buries her head in the bed and using the mattress to muffle her scream. I hold on for another minute before I lose myself, and cum like I have never cum before. How is it that it gets better with this woman every damn time?

"I love you."

"I love you too Christian. Happy Birthday." I press a kiss to her head and she just smiles at me. Damn it's good to be master of the universe.


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: Once again thank you all for sticking with the story. I know FFN has been on the fritz with notifications, so I'm glad you're here of information this chapter. Some of it is meaningful, some of it will useless. Hang with me, because the next few chapters are going to be a bumpy ride.  
**

 **A few memos. The Top Five FSOG Stories group ladies, you are awesome. Seeing my name on the banner this week as featured writer was inspiration enough to do my best to get all my stories updated this week. If you're not in the group, you should be. Each month the nominate and vote on the top five authors in several categories. Its away for readers and fellow authors alike to recognize and show our appreciation for what they do.**

 **At the end of next month, I will reach my 1-year writerversary at FFN. I have decided to move over to Blogger at that time. For a little while I will cross post to FFN, but I think when Steele Love is complete, which won't be till sometime after that, I will only post on the blog. Being on FFN, leaves me restricted. I can't guarantee that readers are getting my updates. I can't post links to my Pinterest Page, or to fellow authors that I think are just awesome. I also don't have the option of responding to negative nellies that hide behind the guest reviewer title. I want to create an interactive page. I want to talk to readers and allow them to have an outcome in the upcoming Steele story to follow this one. I'm probably being ambitious, but it's worth a shot.**

 **So now, here's the down and dirty. I don't own FSoG. I like that EL knows where she comes from and doesn't stop us from trying to achieve what she did. I don't have a beta, and all mistakes are mine.**

 **P.S. I finally broke down and told my best friend what I've been spending my time doing. LadyChamp, you're the best and I love having your support above all else.**

 **Laters Baby**

* * *

 **A Steele Love**

 **Chapter 13**

Ana's POV

"Ana, I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about this." Gail hands me back my phone now that she's done looking at the pictures I took of the interior of the house. "I can't wait to talk to Elliot about all the storage designs I found on Pinterest. That server's kitchen though, not needed. We can turn it into an oversized pantry though."

I can't help but smile at the way she gets excited over this. "Well next week, we'll drive over to the house and I'll show you the guest cottage. You'll need to decide what you want to do with it and let Elliot know. He can get it done at the same time, so you guys will be good to move in when we are."

"Ana, I can't believe you and Christian are giving us the whole guest house to ourselves." I know, she's said so several times today.

"It's the least we can do. Plus, now, Jason's ex won't have an excuse for Sophie to not stay overnight with you two. She'll have her own room that you can decorate together." Jason told Christian yesterday that as soon as it was done he was going to get Carrick to take the ex back to court for a more permanent arrangement then the one they have now. Something enforceable.

"Still, Thank you." Gail looked like she was about to say something, but we're interrupted by the sounds of both Christian and my father joining us.

"Looks like you two had a good run." Dad is in good spirits and one of his standard dark blue suits. "I must have been in my office when you came in."

"It was good. Your dad put me through my paces. I don't think Reynolds was enthused by the pace we set." Christian is dressed in a dark gray suit with a white shirt and navy tie with silver diagonal stripes.

"That young gun needs more time on a treadmill. No wonder Annie always gets the one up on him." Dad laughs, and I have to totally agree. I've told Reynolds that numerous times. He's got strength and brute, but he's not a runner, and it means he gets winded after fifteen minutes on the mats.

We talked about the day we each had planned and before I knew it, we were in the car on our way to GEH. "Dad you said you were going to hang with Brooklynne and me this morning?"

"Nah, Annie, I've decided to pretend to be Taylor Jr. today. I want to see how they deal with your drills today." I watch Dad's smile spread and I can only imagine what he's thinking. "You like to be prepared and I can remember you setting the smoke detectors off at 3 am to wake Carla and run a fire drill in the dead of winter." Dad laughs even more.

"Should I be worried Colonel?" Taylor catches my eye in the rearview mirror and I just smile.

"You should be plenty worried Jason." That's all dad offers him before we pull up to GEH.

Sawyer and I depart with everyone when we stop on the nineteenth floor, while they continue to the twentieth floor.

I've barely stepped off the floor when Ros grabs my elbow and drags me into my office and slams the door shut.

"Woman, your future mother-in-law is gonna be out of control if you don't put a leash on her quick." What the?

"What are you talking about?" I'm genuinely perplexed.

"A third of that party was Grace's networking clan. Did you or Christian know them before they got there?" Well.

"No, but hosting the party at Escala, allowed me to nix half the people she wanted to invite. That wasn't so bad though." Really it wasn't as big a fight as I thought it would be where the guest list was concerned. The need to serve a full meal versus hors d'oeuvres was a bigger battle, but one I easily won.

"Oh, that's not all. That woman was making bets left and right with her lunching lady biddy's about when you were going to get engaged and then when the wedding would be. Then there is that Adrienne woman. Did you know she's convinced that you're Christian's secretary and was telling everyone that would listen that they needed to convince Christian to fire you before his board of directors did." Ros says all of this with a sly smile on her face and I can feel my jaw hit the floor.

"She didn't. Are you serious? That girl is more out there than I originally thought. Hell, she could have a read a supermarket checkout rag and known that he owns the company outright. Did you see the kiss she laid on him before she even gave him her name?" Now I'm giggling along with Ros.

"Of course, I saw it. I had $50 on you storming and slapping her. Gwen raised me $100 that you would kiss him yourself and show her who's boss. Thanks for the loss." Ros looks at her manicure then back up at me. "Seriously though, that woman has her own millions and she's set her sights higher than the last guy. You should watch out for that one."

"Security has bets on when she shows up downstairs asking for Christian. They've been instructed to bring her to me when she does." That gets me a grin from Ros that matches my own.

"Oh, please tell me that you'll call me when that happens."

"Sure, and if you want to place a bet, just see Sawyer. I've got next Tuesday." Aspen this weekend will help increase my odds.

"Well alright, I've got to see a man about a horse it seems. What's the going rate?"

"$100 a day."

"Well I think I've got some money to win." See you later Ana.

Ros opens the door and sees Sawyer taking money from Hannah and Griffin and tosses her head back in laughter. "Sawyer, we need to converse my man."

I'm about to grab Hannah's attention when the phone at my desk rings and I have to rush to answer it. "Ana Steele."

"Hey, Ana, it's Andrea. I can get you in Mr. Grey's office at 8:40. Will that leave you time to get to the security brief that was scheduled for 9?" Andrea is always efficient.

"That works perfectly. I'll see you then." I hang up the phone just as Sawyer knocks on my door.

"Ms. Steele, downstairs just called and said that Elliot and Brooklynne Grey were on their way up."

"Thanks Sawyer. Have Hannah show them in when they get here." I sit down to open up my email before they get here. I'm on my third and printing Griff's reports from last week when I hear Brook's squeal.

"Aunt Anaaaa!" That little blond mess is rushing toward me and around my desk before I can even stand. I had just enough time to turn toward here and she was in my arms.

"My little monkey. You're quite energetic this morning. Did Dad or Aunt Mia feed you sugar for breakfast?" I look at Elliot and he's shaking his head at me.

"Mom was in the middle of chocolate chip pancakes this morning when she called in on an emergency. Gretchen finished for her." Elliot holds up a cream colored canvas bag. "This has an extra change of clothes, coloring books, and a few snacks. She tells me she's having girls lunch with you and Kate." There is a sparkle in his eye when he says Kate's name.

"Yeah, Kate will be meeting us at the diner. She's coming back here with me when we're done. What about it?" I'm going to tease him mercilessly about this.

"What about what?"

"What about Kate?" I arch an eyebrow at him.

"I'm not sure what you mean Banana." He clears his throat and I give him a knowing smile.

"What do you want to know?"

"Well, I mean." Elliot does that back of the neck rub thing he's so prone to doing before he continues. "She told me she was single last night. I just need to know if she's a love 'em and leave 'em type. I mean I use to be that way, but I can't be anymore. Not with Brook, and they got along so well last night. I liked Kate a lot. I would like to see her again, but if she's not willing to stick around, you know, I just have to think of Brooklynne." He stares at the little girl in my lap, who's taken over my phone to play Star Wars Angry Birds.

"Give Kate a chance. She needed to find the right guy, and she did last night. Frankly, I'm disappointed in myself for not introducing the two of you sooner. Just be careful, she's been burned and can be cautious. Also, she knew Jeff." I let that hang in the air a bit and wait for his response.

"That's kind of a big bomb to drop there at the end. How well did they know each other?" I get the underlying meaning. Elliot wants to know if Kate slept with his treasonous biological half-brother.

"She was a buffer for me when he came to town. She's the one that made excuses for me. But they didn't know each other more than in passing. I think they share a couple beers once, but that was the extent of it." She also propositioned him every chance she got, but Jeff always turned her down hoping I would see him and fall into bed with him. He had his chance and ran. We don't usually talk about Jeff, not since he helped Egyptian terrorists kidnap me and assaulted me. Oh, and he deserted his country while fighting a war and became a treasonous bastard. Yeah, we don't talk about Jeff.

"She doesn't know about the connection between you two. But Kate's been my best friend since college. She was my first friend really. That means we know everything about each other, well what's not classified. So, that means she's also the closest thing I have to a sister and I won't hesitate to hurt you if you screw up." I narrow my gaze and give him a pointed look, Brook still content with the Angry Birds on my phone.

"I understand. Think you can put in a good word at lunch?" Elliot gives me a smile that I am sure works on every other woman in Seattle, but I met his brother first. That smile doesn't work on me.

"I'll put in a word or two. No promises about how good they'll be." With that I shoot my gaze toward the clock on the wall. "You've got to hit the road if you're going to make it to the courthouse in time. Brook and I have an appointment on the 20th floor we need to get to."

"Alright, the big executives are dismissing me. I get it. I also think you're spending to much time with my brother."

"I don't spend nearly enough time with him." I give him a knowing smirk and he shakes his head at me.

"Brook come give me a bye hug." She drops my phone on the desk and runs to him. "Be good for your Aunt today. I'll see you after your girls' lunch. Love you squirt."

"I love you to Daddy." She gives him a hug and then backs away. "We get to go to your work today right?"

"Yes, we've got to check on several of my job sights this afternoon. You'll need to change into your jeans in the bag when you get back from lunch." Elliot is squatting down so he's eye level with Brook.

"Okay Daddy. I'll be good. I can't wait. You promise I can get dirty?" She's got this sweet as pie look, batting her eyes at him and I think she could talk him into buying a pony with that look.

"Yeah, there will be plenty dirty and dust today. I love you." Elliot kisses her forehead and exits the office.

"Okay Miss Brooklynne, we have a meeting to get to. First, we need to grab our necessary files. Are you ready?" I look at her in her dark blue and gold sailor dress. The buttons in the front are just adorable.

"I'm ready." Her response is quick and I laugh when she grabs a small yellow pad and a fluffy purple pen. This little girl is after my own heart with that pad of paper. "Grampa said that you can't go to a meeting without being prepared to write something down. Aunt Mia gave me this pen yesterday and Grampa gave me the notepad."

"He was absolutely right. You'll do great in an office one day." I grab my reports for Christian and then we head to the door. "Anytime we leave the floor, Sawyer has to follow us, and we have to let Hannah know that we're unavailable, unless it's an emergency or someone on our proscribed list."

I nod to Hannah when she sees us and we continue toward the elevator. "What a pr-pri-procribe list?" Brook is holding my hand and looking very sternly at me. Yeah, she could command a boardroom like her uncle with a gaze like that.

"A proscribed list, is a list of pre-approved and dis-approved visitors and callers. All of security downstairs has a list of people that can visit me and your Uncle Christian without an appointment. Their phone calls always get put through as well. Then there are people that aren't allowed past the lobby and will have the cops called to remove them if necessary. You will get to see it when we meet with mine and Taylor's teams." I hope that I have explained this in way she understands. The ride to the floor above mine is short. Sawyer holds the door for us to get off when we arrive.

"Good afternoon Miss Steele. Mr. Grey is just finishing up a phone call, you and your assistant may enter now." Andrea greets us as soon as she sees us step out. "Can I get either of you anything to drink? Coffee, tea, water?"

"Do you have juice?" Brook looks at her with such big eyes.

"I have several kinds. Would you like to come with me and pick some out? I can show you where I made Mr. Greys coffee today." Andrea has stooped down to Brook's level much in the same way Elliot did before leaving her. I imagine it's harder for her when you're wearing a skin-tight pencil skirt.

"No, thank you. I like apple best. I wanna see Christian now." With that Brook lets got of my hand and moves toward the double doors to Christian's office. I stand still and watch her try to open the heavy metal and wood doors, before Sawyer gives in and opens it for her.

"Ma'am." His address to her is simple and she bends down to retrieve the pen she dropped.

"Thanks." And with that she starts to walk in, but then she turns around and sees me still standing still. I pat Andrea's shoulder and follow my niece in. The minute she sees Christian behind the desk she's running to him. Watching him with her makes me long for a family of our own. It's a life I didn't think I would ever want, let alone be able to have. I want to see our own children do that to him when they visit at work, but there are other things to handle first.

* * *

Elliot's POV

I am nervous as hell. I don't like leaving Brook at GEH with Ana at all. It's not because I don't trust her either. In fact, I know I'll need to update my will soon and I'm going to ask Christian and Ana to take care of Brook if anything happens to me. I just don't want to be away from her right now. There are so many things happening to her, so many new things, that I worry that everything is going to get confusing and overwhelming.

I made it to the courthouse with five minutes to spare and I see Dad and one of his junior associates waiting outside our assigned courtroom.

"Son, Ms. Williams is here and already in the courtroom waiting. She didn't bring a lawyer with her. That's a good thing, but it means she can get one this afternoon and then appeal whatever happens today. This will only be to address the temporary order and Ms. Moss's reports as well as those from the hospital yesterday. We'll get another future court date before we walk out of here." Dad is very straightforward, talking to me like my lawyer. That's good. That's what I need now, my lawyer, not my father.

"Okay, let's get to it." We enter the courtroom and spots us the minute the door opens. She narrows her glare and I can see the hatred there. Tough shit bitch. Brooklynne is my daughter. I have the first letter form Lena telling me about her. I have the secret will of hers asking me to keep her safe by any means necessary, whether I continued to keep her in Leila's care or took over completely. I also have the two independent lab DNA tests I had done. No one will be taking my daughter from me.

I sit and stare ahead as dad presents the facts of how I learned of Brook's existence and became involved in her life from that moment on. He presents the letters from Lena and shows receipts of my deposits to Leila to help with her care. Phone records, are presented. Brook's school records. Then the report from Erika Moss and the doctors as the hospital yesterday. I hate hearing about those bruises on her back. I feel weak when I near my tipping point and listen to Dad describe the picture Brook drew of herself in her room and the man with the scar on the other side of the door.

Leila's given a chance to talk and she demands that the court get her a lawyer. The judge had to explain she's only entitled to one in criminal proceedings and these are only civil at the moment. She however recommends she gets one because he's already forwarded the reports from the social worker and the hospital to the police department for further investigation. I listen as she puts Leila in her place. Before I know it, the judge is banging her gavel and I have three months before we have to return.

"That was the best we could hope for son. You have three months to settle Brooklynne into a life that would be detrimental to have her ripped away from. In two weeks time, you'll need to set up someone to monitor Leila's visitation. It can be at our home, but your mother and I can't be the supervisor. You'll have the order before the end of the week to have her name changed as well. School lets out this week. I suggest finding a secure private school over the summer before she starts back in September."

I take a minute to go over in my head what all the judge said. Leila is allowed two hours a week, starting in two weeks, of supervised visitation in a setting not belonging to myself, or Leila. Jack Hyde can't come into contact with Brook at all and can't be within 100 yards of her. And she gets my last name. The judge however blocked protective orders for the rest of the family. And I don't have to give Leila a cent while Brook is with me. This morning has been a good one. Dad and I head down to his office so that we can sort paperwork.

On the way he tells me that one of his partners will be able to get me a list of schools for Brook. Tomorrow I'll have to take everything from today to the school and get one of Christian's guys to stay there and make sure that Leila and the Hyde fucker don't try anything. She's skipping Friday as it is. It's only a half day, but we're going to Aspen sometime that day. She can stay with me. The less time she's away the better.

* * *

Christian's POV

"Brooklynne, let me introduce you to the security staff. Some of these people work for Taylor, they protect us individually outside of my company. Some of them work for your Aunt Ana. She's in charge of all things security inside of this building and any others that I own." She stares at the 20+ people standing inside of Ana's war room.

God, I hate that name. But Ana took over this conference room when she took the job and renamed it. The room is separated from the rest of the floor by glass walls, with the exception of one wall that is solid. All of the windowed walls frost over at the touch of a button. The glass is soundproof and shatterproof. The floors are a dark solid wood, separate from the marble used throughout the rest of the building. The solid wall houses her many electronic interfacing systems. At the touch of another button, panels pop and slide open and reveal advance government type monitors. She can tap into just about anything from here. I've heard Sawyer joke before about her being able to control the international space station from this room.

"Right, Brooklynne, I'll show you my team first. They are all on the left side of the room. A few of these faces you have seen already today after walking in here. You met with Griffin last night at the party. Let me introduce you to a few more key people." Ana walks over to the oldest member of security at GEH. "This is Ivan Greer. After me and Griffin, he's the next boss in line. All the security staff downstairs report to him. He knows everyone that is coming and going from this building. No one gets pass him."

I watch Brook walk matter of over to Ivan and offer her hand. "Nice to meet you Ivan."

"Likewise, young one." Oh yeah, Ivan is British. I'm thankful that the man is married. I'm afraid half the staff would be after him because of the accent alone if he wasn't.

"This here is Sid McCormack, he's in charge of all the security at our other GEH Properties. Everyone not in this building reports to him." Brook walks down the line shaking his hand. Ana follows down the line introducing Brook to each member of her team and gives the simplest and briefest description of what their job is and where they work at in the building.

Once Ana is done, Taylor is introducing her to each of the members of the personal security team. Taylor tells her which ones watch which member of the family. He explains that there are current members of the team with the family outside the building at the moment, so she will meet with them later. He also introduces her to Ellis. Taylor has assigned Ellis to Brook's security this week when she returns to school.

Before long, Ana is showing Brook how the special communications devices work that allow us to contact any of the team members at any time. Ana even shows her the special map she has. With that smart board, Ana is able to track every member of the team and family through their cells phones. Ana also explains that when she and I are not together, we tend to wear specials bracelet trackers in case our phones are lost. Next thing I know Brook ask for her own. Ana tells her she'll have one before the weekend is over. It will need to be made specially for her with her little wrists. I don't know how Elliot will feel about that, but it makes me feel loads better. I think I'll make each of our kids wear one when we have them. I don't think Ana would let me implant a tracker into them.

Once it looks like things are wrapping up Ana and Taylor dismiss everyone and I head back to my office after hugs and kisses from both Ana and Brook. Andrea has coffee waiting on me and a stack of paperwork when I arrive back at the office. I should feel bad that her workload has doubled again without an assistant. I can't help but feel like it shouldn't be so hard to find competent people to answer phones and file paperwork.

I'm finally notified of Mia's arrival downstairs nearly 20 minutes after I told her to be here. When she does enter the office, she's demanding Andrea bring her coffee and I can tell she's still hungover. The oversized black sunglasses covering her face are a dead giveaway. As is the lack of makeup. She at least combed her hair and pulled it back. She's certainly not dressed for the office though. She's in a pair of tattered cut off jean shorts, and what is so obviously a man's recently worn white button up shirt. She didn't even bother to button more than the middle two buttons. I can smell the alcohol and men's cologne from across my desk.

"Christian, do you think you can turn the lights down?" She can't be serious. I watch her push her glasses atop her head.

"Fuck no. You're late. I have a schedule to keep and you showed up late. Things are about to change for you Mia Tervelyan-Grey. I've already spoken with mom and dad and they are on board. Do you know that you've maxed out my credit card seven times in the last six months, not counting the outrageous purchase of the watch? How did you convince the assistant to up the limit for you?" She smiles then.

"That was easy. You're bypass code at the credit card company hasn't changed since Olivia worked here. She just called and pretended to be Andrea. I'm not sure how Olivia knew it, but she had all sort of passwords and codes written down in a notepad. The assistant before her found it and told me all about it when I took her to lunch. I told her it was a matter of security to give it to me." Fuck. I'll be meeting with my finance head and Ana this week and getting those all changed.

"I want that list. Back to the matter at hand though. Since you returned from Paris over a year ago, you've had no ambition. You wanted to be a chef and eventually own your own bakery, at least that is what you told me to convince me to pay for you to spend the year over there. Now you don't do anything but shop and party. That changes now. As of this morning at 9 am, your credit cards no longer work. Your debit card is still good, but watch what you spend. Once it's gone for the month, you're screwed till the first again. Mom and dad will cover your monthly expenses while you look for work. You will receive only the monthly stipend from your trust fund. In three months is you have gained work, I'll buy you an apartment. You have until the first of the year to become fully self-sufficient. I'm also taking the car away. You need to go somewhere, you can have security drive you. You've snuck away one to many times." Mia is crying huge sobs by now.

"Christian you can't do this to me. I already took a hit to my reputation with the Lily debacle. Don't make it worse. I need to be seen buying the latest fashions and trends."

"Your actions have consequences Mia. As for the rest of this week, since you are the reason that Andrea is without help, you will be filling in with her. You are to do whatever she tells you to do. You show up on time and you don't flake out on her. If you don't do the best job possible, I'll withdraw every cent that I've deposited into your trust fund. After the current stipend, you'd run out in less than two years. Once Andrea has hired a new assistant, you'll be free to look for employment elsewhere."

Mia is hunched over, looking like she'll get on her knees to beg any minute now. "Please Christian. You have to think of something else. I'm sorry about the watch. I'll take it back. Please just don't make me do this. Don't take my car and credit cards. You're my big brother and you promised to always take care of me."

"You're not listening to me very well little sister. I have already done all that. In fact, your car has already been removed from the premises and secured. You can't even call and report it stolen, because it is in my name. As for always taking care of you, that is exactly what I am doing now. I coddled you way too much. We all did. Not one of us has ever told you no and its time we started. You need to grow up."

"This is because of her isn't it. I heard Mom and Ray last night at the party talking. You're going to marry her and she doesn't want you spending money on me when you could be spending it on her. You don't need to be with her Christian. I know lots of women that would kill to be with you and they wouldn't mind you taking care of your baby sister."

That does it. I rise from my chair so fast and move around the desk that I frighten even myself with my speed. "Let's get something straight right now Mia. You're my little sister and I would hate to think that you're about to give me an ultimatum of some kind here. I'll be real clear. There is no choice here. What I'm doing is not detrimental to your health or safety. If I ever hear you say another word like that about Ana again, infer that she's only with me for the money, I'll drain your entire trust fund so fast, that your beloved Britney Spears will win an Oscar before you get another cent from me. Am I clear?"

By now I realize that I'm leaning into her space and she's pinned against the back of her chair. The tears have stopped. I can see the fear seeping out of her stare. Good. She knows I mean it this time. "Yes." Her voice is soft and squeaky.

I nod my head and push back away from her. "Get out of here. Someone from security will meet you down stairs. Go home and sleep off the hangover. I want you here before me tomorrow. That means you enter this building at 7 am. Not a minute late. If you're late, I won't pay you for the work you missed."

Mia just nods her head as she grabs her oversized bag and scurries out of the office. I sit back down at my computer and fire off emails to Taylor, Ana, and the finance head about what I learned from Mia. Taylor is quick to reply that his man downstairs escorting Mia home will retrieve the pad of paper and bring it back to us.

I spend the next hour at my desk going through all the paperwork and I'm just about to call Ana and check on her and Brook when I hear a loud screeching siren sound through the building and Taylor comes rushing in.

"Sir, we've got a problem and we've got to get you out of here ASAP."

"Where's Brooklynne and Ana?" I'm grabbing my jacket when Taylor starts pushing me away from my elevator and toward his office.

"We can't find them, and the drill codes didn't set off before the alarms sounded." Shit even Taylor looks worried. I try calling Ana on my cell phone, but it's going straight to voicemail. Where the hell are they? "Sir we've got to get you to the roof. Charlie Tango is in route. We'll find them and then evacuate them. But protocol dictates you leave without them." That is the last thing I hear before Taylor shoves me into what I assume is a closet in his office.

* * *

Ana's POV

Brooklynne and I are getting ready to start these interviews for today and I need to set a few things in motion to test the security strength within GEH. I have many tests that are going to run and Brooklynne and I are going to recreate the server room fire from last month and see if we can find the flaw in our system that allowed the unknown suspect to gain access to the room after hours and start that fire.

The first interview is a quiet man in his mid-thirties. Max Hayes is an IT specialist with experience in cyber security. He works for a firm I overhauled last year in Dallas. Max wants a place where there is room for personal and professional growth. Something that he's not getting in his current spot. Max has told me he will be in Seattle till Thursday so that if I call him in the next day or two he will be able to find housing and can start in two weeks time.

The second interview is with Doug Dunn. Doug is 39 and was forced to retire from the Seattle Police Department almost two years ago. Doug has bounced around from security gig to security gig since. His file was an interesting one. Four years ago, Doug was injured while chasing a suspect. He'd been shot just below his right knee. His partner showed up after the fact, claiming to have only heard the shot, but never saw who shot him or from what direction. The suspect was never caught, and from what I was able to gleam from a quick hack of the SPD files, the chain of custody on the fragment that was removed from his leg is questionable. Just before Doug's retirement, he'd notice a decrease in crime reports at his precinct. He started collecting reports that were written and comparing to the ones actually filed. Doug tried to go to his Captain and then Internal Affairs when he thought the other officers might be fixing the crime rate numbers in the precinct. Doug had noticed assaults and robbery complaints seem to be the ones that go missing.

After two months, Doug was on patrol when a call came in for robbery in progress. The suspect was fleeing when he and his new partner arrived on scene. They managed to capture him this time and Doug instantly recognized him. He was the same guy he'd chased years before when he was shot. The gun they found on him this time, matched ballistics to the fragment recovered from Doug, but the suspect was let go. His Captain told him they didn't have enough to hold him, and he was a Criminal Informant anyway. Doug became paranoid when he started seeing the kid everywhere. He made a complaint with the SPD Chief, but nothing was done. Before long, Doug claims, the bullet from his leg and the gun they took off the kid, both disappeared from the evidence lock up. When he went to I.A. again, they told him to retire or he'd be involuntarily held for evaluation at a psychiatric facility.

Doug seems like a good man. He has a family that he wishes to support and I like him. I also think Dad would love to talk to him.

The third interview is the only female interview of the day, and I'm going to hire her before the day is over. Donna James is wonderfully engaging. She's currently working with the Bremerton Police Department, but she wants to make more money and have better benefits. Most of the PD over there has had hours cut back and she's no longer receiving full time pay. She's talkative and knowledgeable and polite to Brooklynne above all else. I want Taylor to put her with Brook. When I asked questions of her, she was perfectly respectful of the young girl on my side, never fully taking her attention away from her, yet, she seemed to hold her own with me. I'll twist Taylor's arm if I have to, but she's going to be Brook's CPO.

The last interview is Wendall Perez. Wendall is a young 28-year-old man who did eight years with the army straight out of high school. He was quickly promoted through out his tenure, leaving service as a Staff Sergeant. Wendall earned a bachelor's degree in criminal sciences while he was in service and had hoped to be hired by his hometown police department when he left service. Wendall could have easily stayed and been a career soldier, yet he felt staying with a force that seemed to be producing quantity vs quality soldiers wasn't an option anymore. Dad's talked about the lack of discipline since the pentagon overhauled training techniques in the last five years.

Wendall is an interesting character. He's straight-laced, almost to a fault. He doesn't deviate from the standard yes ma'am, no ma'am answers. He's applied to the Seattle Police Academy and been denied three times in the last two years. I had to do a little more hacking, but I still don't have answers. There is no obvious reason for his denial. Only that the Chief didn't approve of his file. Wendall is a perfect candidate on paper, so it's mind boggling. Well to most. I think it's a race issue, and I'll gladly point it out to Dad next week. Wendall is the son of a black woman who works in a dry-cleaning shop. His father is a white man that owns a motorcycle shop in Portland. They have never been married to each other, although his father is on wife number six. He's got a thing for the 21-year-olds that join his biker club. If my statistics are correct, and they always are, 87% of the Seattle Police Department is now white. The other 13% contains a handful of African American officers that were with the department before the new chief came in. There are a few Asian officers, and a Samoan officer. The female ratio is even lower. The Seattle Police Department employees over 100 officers, detectives, and investigators, and only 12 of them are female now.

I'll talk to Taylor this evening, I think we can hire all four between our departments. For now, Brooklynne and I have a few tricks to play.

* * *

Taylor's POV

I'm going to hog tie Anastasia Steele the minute I find her. This is ridiculous. She'd better be having fun, because she's not going to brush her teeth without me hovering over her shoulder for the next month. Ray is laughing his ass off at me, and texting Gail with a play by play. Hell, Ana's even sending picture messages to Gail after each incident. Ana is making me look bad at my job. The only consolation is that Griff was kept in the dark and was instructed to act in her stead for the day. He's been holed up in the war room for the last hour helping us overcome each of her obstacles.

Already they've broken into the server room and planted a device. Thankfully we found it and disarmed it before the timer went off. Ana promised a YouTube video release of our team getting their asses kicked by her if we didn't do it in time.

Next up, the camera feed to Grey's private elevator was looped and they were able to not only get onto the floor, but inside my office and throw glitter everywhere before I knew what was happening.

Ros's key card was cloned, and they were able to get into the secure records room without an alarm being activated. While in there, they pulled several employee files and photocopied pictures. Half my team is going to be out for blood with the mustaches and black teeth she gave them before she hung the photos around the building.

Now, Grey's card has been used to open the vault in the top security research area in the research and development department. We lost track of Ana and Brook on the security feeds in the mailroom. We currently have no clue where they are and there is a fire alarm screeching in my ear. Once the vault was opened, flight or fight protocol was activated. That means I have to get Grey to the roof and off the premises, no matter what. He's going to be pissed at not only me, but Ana as well when he finds out she wrote the damn book and deemed herself a non-entity to be left behind if something like this happened. Yeah, I'm going to get punched.

Quickly I've got him secured into the helicopter and we're headed toward Escala. He'll be allowed back at GEH once they're found and the fire department clears the building. Ray stayed back with Sawyer and the rest of the team to find the girls. Grey won't stop calling her even though the phone only goes to voicemail. The minute we've landed at Escala, he's stalked his way to the elevator and heads to the penthouse.

Gail is giggling incessantly when we arrive. Right there at the breakfast bar eating leftover birthday cake is Ana and Brook. "You're late. Taylor should have had you here eight minutes ago." Ana waves a chocolate covered fork toward me and I know I'm standing there with my mouth wide open.

Christian stalks her like she's the prey he's about to devour and next thing you know, Ana's off the stool and over his shoulder and they're headed toward his office.

"Brook, how did you guys get here?" I walk to the bar and take Ana's vacated seat.

"We hitched a ride in a mail cart and once we were downstairs we walked out the side and got in a taxi. We've been here awhile. Aunt Ana was counting down to see how long it took you to get Uncle Christian here. This was so much fun. Can we do it again sometime?" She looks at me innocently and with a crumb covered smile.

"No." it's the only reply I can come up with.

I hope Ana has some genius plan to guarantee these things never happen again. Otherwise, I think Grey will fire the whole lot of us.


	15. Chapter 14

2/20/18

 **A/N: So I totally forgot to mention something in my author's note on the last chapter. When I wrote the ending of Christian's birthday party I told you all that I had Jessie J's** ** _I Got You(I Feel Good)_** **was playing on repeat. It was one of my favorite scene to ever write. His whole party was. This was most exciting to me the next day though when I went to see Fifty Shades Freed. For those that have seen the movie, you remember the second red room scene. The one where Ana opens the toy drawer. That song was playing. I found it to be a wonderful coincidence and it was the best redeeming factor for the movie to me.**

 **Anyway, some housekeeping things. I'm still not getting half your reviews, so I have to pull up the story and read the reviews that way. I'm not sure how many of you are getting the notifications in your inbox about chapters, but I hope that that you're still following along with me. I mention a facebook group in the last chapter, Top Five FSOG Stories. You should really check it out. They are currently voting on February's nominations. It's a great way to show support to some of your favorite authors. They've also opened nominations for the March polls.**

 **Pinterest was update at the conclusion of Christian's birthday party. There is even a spotify playlist pin for the party. I'm going to be cleaning up my boards in the next couple weeks. There most likely won't be a new board for Steele Love for a few chapters.**

 **This chapter is shorter than what you've become accustomed to, please bear with me though. The next chapter will be nail biting and will leave you with the dreaded cliff hanger. But what's going to happen is necessary for the story to progress. This chapter is a little heavy in itself though. Please beware, Christian is about to show his old self, a side Ana has never seen. He's not going to hurt her physically, but he's going to scare himself with his reaction.**

 **I don't own FSoG. Thanks EL for not suing me though. Grey Vitals and Unavowed coming at the beginning of next week. Another Steele Love chapter before the week is over though. Thanks for sticking with me.**

 **Mistakes are my own. No beta or other goddess to fix the mess I create for my characters.**

 **Laters Baby**

* * *

 **A Steele Love**

 **Chapter 14**

Ana's POV

"Do you know how infuriating it is to hear that the woman you love has dictated a protocol that sees herself as a non-entity and easily left behind?" The minute Christian had us in his office, the door was slam and I was dropped in front of him and pushed against the door, much like that day in his office when I first met Elena Lincoln. Only this time, he's not kissing me passionately. Christian is staring at me with the fire of a thousand suns and barely held rage. He's beyond pissed. I've screwed up and if I wasn't sure looking into his eyes, his next actions prove it.

I tried to shake my head in the negative to answer his question, only to find myself unable to move my head. Christian's fingers are wrapped around my throat in a commanding way. His thumb pressing my chin up so that I can only look in his eyes. His left hand has pinned both of my hands far above my head. I'm inclined to stand on the tips of my toes to relieve some of the pressure, but I think it would only anger him more.

"You are my life and world, Anastasia." He presses a hot kiss to the side of my neck and starts a trail up toward my ear as he continues to talk. "You mean more to me than anyone and anything, the whole of Grey House could collapse on itself, and all that would matter to me is that you were safe and next to me." The pressure on my throat lessens, but he tilts my neck to the left knocking my gaze away from his. "I read that protocol shit you wrote last month, twice. Where the fuck was the memo that you were to be left behind in an emergency?"

Christian pulls back to look at me, but he doesn't loosen his grip anywhere. "Sent it to Taylor and Sawyer last week. Its only for GEH premises. Ros was evacuated in the same manner, but she left out the garage."

"And just where the hell do you evacuate?" This time he straightens my head back and leans in our, noses touching, but the man I love is hidden in his gaze. I'm staring into the eyes of a rage fueled Dom.

"I don't evacuate. I'm the Chief of Security, protocol dictates that as the Captain, I must stay with my ship." I try to stay calm, but I know my fear of his reaction came through on the tail of my last words.

With a force I hadn't expected, Christian shoves himself away from me and I crumple to the floor. He starts pacing, dragging his hands through his hair as he does so. Shit both hands. I've really messed up.

"When the fuck will you get it through your god damn head Ana? You mean more to me than any of that shit. Do you know how many times I tried to call you? How many names I called Taylor for shoving me into that damn roof top entrance he had stashed in his closet? Or how about the punch I threw at Ryan as they shoved me onto my damn helicopter? FUCK!" Not once does he look at me as he talks. "I plan on marrying you, having a family with you and you want me to just let you stay with the sinking ship and save myself? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

I watch from the floor in front of his door as he continues his pace. He's talking to himself and I can only catch a few words here and there. He's really not happy with me. "Do you not have one word to say for yourself Anastasia?"

"I didn't think you wanted me to talk." I honestly have no idea what he wants to hear from me. I wrote the protocol as I would for any company. I didn't factor in my relationship with him.

"I want you tell me why the hell I shouldn't fire your ass right this second. As for our trusted CPOs they'll hear from me later. Griffin as well."

"First of all, we have a contract, you really don't want to pay me the fee to cancel it and then be without a chief of security." I try for levity but the sudden pause in his pacing and the menacing look he gives me makes me rethink my approach.

"Really, you think money would be an issue with me. I would gladly pay the damn fee, double it even, to ensure your mother fuckin' safety Anastasia. This isn't the damn CIA anymore. You're not running a covert op. You don't get to throw your safety to the wind. You're not invincible." His tone of forceful and clipped. His volume just under a shout. He resumes his pacing without a glance toward me further.

"I've never said I was invincible. But I take my job seriously. Any other person filling my role, would do the same damn thing. I can't change the rules just because you and I are together. Really though, with everything I've put in place, I'm good. I can take care of myself." I stand up at this point, the floor no longer comfortable, yelling my response right back at him. I start to move toward the couch when he turns abruptly and stalks to me. Grabbing me by both arms, Christian shakes me for about two seconds and then I see the tears in his eyes.

"Jeff Thomas." He lets those two words sink in before he continues. "You thought you could handle yourself with him and look what happened." Oh, Christian.

"That was different. He tried to drug me and then had several of his friends to assist him. If we'd been one on one, or even inside GEH, it wouldn't have happened." I raise my hand, rather hesitantly, and brush the hair back from his forehead. "The things that I did today, I found a few problems, none of them major. I figured out what I needed to about the server room fire. Most of that though, unless the CIA is infiltrating GEH, it's not gonna happen again. We are safe in that fortress and this one as well. I'll talk with Griff, maybe he should be the face of the department. I can't be in my current position and not stick with my team and run away when the situation gets sticky. It's not who I am, and you wouldn't love me if it was."

He knows I am right. He knows that if it was anyone else he wouldn't be this mad. If I was in any other position protocol could dictate that I leave with him.

"I just love you so damn much Ana. I don't want anything to ever happen to you."

"Then we do our best to prepare and plan to make sure it doesn't." I love this man more than anything, but I need him to stop seeing me as a delicate flower.

"I have to go. I'm supposed to have lunch with your father. Seems the search for you and Brooklynne can be called off."

"I called Sawyer and called it off the minute you were airborne." I place a soft, gently kiss to Christian's lips. "I love you."

"I love you too Snow White."

Don't ask me how I know, but I know this isn't the last of this argument. Not by a long shot. He seems almost resigned and downtrodden. I watch him step around me and exit the office without a backwards glance toward me.

* * *

Christian's POV

After the media caught wind of the drill at GEH, I asked Ray to meet me at my office. We can have lunch brought in. I'm still conflicted about what happened with Ana in my office. I don't ever remember being that angry with anyone. I shook her and the second I realized it I released her. It took every ounce of control I've practiced over the years to not let the tears that were building fall. I want to think that I wouldn't have hurt her, but I'm not sure if that is true or not. I love that woman so damn much and the idea of anything happening to her destroys me. I need her in my life. Why she can't understand how much she means to me is mind boggling. This is something I can't reconcile. I thought I would be able to handle her being in the position that she is, it's better than her work with the CIA, right? I mean at least at GEH, I can keep an eye on her. Or that's what I had assumed. I don't know how I'm going to work this one out.

"You planning to light her ass on fire tonight, son? Cause if you're not, I will." Ray enters my office without a second thought to knocking. He's been told he's welcome in here anytime.

"I'm afraid I'd do some serious damage to her if I touched her right now. Frankly, I'm hoping that I calm down before we go home at 5. I'm planning to cancel with Claude this afternoon. I can't expect him to put up with me with my rage barely contained like this. Sir, I don't know what to do?" I look at Ray, the man who has become a confidant when it comes to all things Ana.

"You go home, scream at her and lay the law down. You also need to knock some sense into Taylor and the rest of them that knew about that damn policy and didn't say anything to you. I watched the men scramble today. The way Griff explained it to me, she used a lot of CIA equipment. I think the only thing he's planning to recommend changing to Ana, is some biometric security measures in a few places. He thinks Ana wanted an excuse to implement CAC cards like the military uses too." Ray and I are both sitting on the couch now and I'm staring out at the Seattle skyline while I think about what he's saying.

"Barney tried to fight her on the use of the biometric systems. He thought it was more trouble than what was warranted. What is a CAC card?"

"You know that little chip on your new debit and credit cards? Those little chips hold a whole lot of information and personal security features." Ray reaches into his pocket and I see him pull out his military id and hands to me. "That little chip at the bottom, requires special readers to extract information. We don't have secret passwords anymore. My computer at the base, the keyboard has a special built in reader. When I turn the computer on, I enter the card and it pulls up my information. The lack of a magnetic strip, like the current security cards you use, makes cloning a card near impossible. I'm sure Ana could find a way to do it, but otherwise, those faked key pass swipes would be a thing of the past."

I hand the card back to Ray and look at him. "Why wouldn't she just tell me all this? I'd approve it immediately."

"You know how Annie is. She needs to prove everything. There are still plenty people in this building that think she's only got her job because she's sleeping with you. They don't see just how damn good she is at her job. By the way, you should really give Taylor and Sawyer a raise for dealing with her." That brings a chuckle from the both of us.

"Everyone on the team has gotten a raise this month if they've had to deal with Ana in the gym. They're all highly paid." I laugh thinking back three weeks when I followed through on my promise to give Reynolds his raise for letting her get the jump on him the third time. He is Ana's favorite punching bag.

"As for some of the other hijinks today, I think that was just fun for Brook's sake. That little girl has captured everyone's hearts, mine included. Which brings me to why I really wanted to be one on one with you today." Before Ray can say anything else, Andrea enters with our lunch and I thank her tell her to go take hers. The switchboard downstairs can handle the phones till she comes back.

As soon as the door is shut behind Andrea, Ray is digging into the breast pocket of his jacket. "I expect my daughter to be wearing that by this time next week." Ray tosses a small dark blue velvet bag to me. When I pull the drawstring to open the bag, I quickly dump its contents in my palm. My heart is thundering in my chest as I take in what he's given me. "That was my grandmother's ring. My mother wore it and I offered it to Carla, but she thought a recycled ring was tacky. I'm glad now that she never wore it. It means that ring has only been worn my women who stayed with their husbands into the afterlife."

I stare at the ring and instantly know it's the perfect ring. I can call Mr. Calderon this afternoon and call his search off. "Ray, I'm honored. This ring is perfect. I had hired a jeweler last week to find her a blue diamond, but all the photos he's sent over the weekend and this morning, are too big. She would wear them to an event to match a dress, but she'd never wear them every day. This though, will she recognize it for what it is?"

"You pull it out in that bag, she'll know exactly what you're holding. She used to stare at it when she was a little girl, even wore it once or twice when it was just me and her at home. She loved her grandmothers. I always hated that they passed while she was so young. Sometimes, I think that Ana only turned out as well as she did because of my mother's influence during deployments." Ana has only talked about her grandparents once or twice, but I know that she has no living family outside of her parents.

"She is the way she is because of you. Although, I wonder where her obstinate nature comes from." I shake my head thinking back to the way I talked to her in my office at Escala. "I threw Jeff Thomas's kidnapping in her face today." I'm resigned to her hating me when I get home. I've completely lost my appetite now.

"Good. She needs to know she's not wonder woman. Ana likes to think she's bulletproof. I'll admit, for a woman, she's highly trained and she's got skills. She's not without her defenses. But there are situations where that's not enough. Jeff Thomas was one of them. If there had been a team of people sieging GEH today, it would have been another one. I told Annie I wouldn't say anything to you, but she's pissed me off today with that disappearing stunt of hers." I look at Ray as he drops his burger on his plate and instantly know I'm going to hate whatever he has to say.

"You need to propose as soon as you can make it perfect for her. Then you need to plan the quickest wedding possible without running off to Vegas. After that, you're going to have to convince her to start a family immediately." I sense urgency in his voice and I start to question it when he holds his hand up to me. "No, let me talk. She's never going to be fully out of the secret spy game until she's got a full family to think of. You and I both know that she does right now, but there is no one person who is solely dependent on her. A child will do that. You two know each other better than Johnny and June ever knew each other. You're financially stable. There is no real reason to delay starting a family, except her contract with the government."

And the shoe drops. "What happened?" I know she told him something, something that she didn't tell me about.

"Finn called her a while back and asked her to go to London to get access to some mogul's devices and computers. It was a simple clone job that any field agent worth their salt could do. But he wanted her to go and schmooze him and get him to take her to his private bedroom. It didn't sit well with her, and he tried to explain that her being high profile now, meant that he would be instantly intrigued by her and wouldn't care about her attachment to you and that made her perfect for the job. She told him to go to hell, but it won't be the last time he wants to send her in like that. Next one may be more dangerous than some flirting." Fuck.

"Why didn't she tell me this?" I thought we had no secrets.

"I think she was trying to reconcile it with herself. She knows she can't do what she was doing anymore, but I think she's afraid to let it go. Your dad doing what he did, and that little bitch from the princess posse selling her out, didn't help her any. For years, she's lived and breathed the spy game. Then she was your girlfriend. She's worried about losing herself. You know she doesn't want to do this damn book, but it was practically an order from the President of the United States. It's why she plans to donate all the proceeds to Coping Together and the Blue Star Family Foundation." Things make a lot more sense hearing them from Ray.

"I'll talk to her. I assume you want me to propose in Aspen this weekend?" I'm not sure how I will do it, but I don't think Ana would want anything over the top. Maybe a hike on the back of the property at the base of the mountain. I can propose with a few of the valley behind us.

"I would appreciate it being a family event that we can all witness, but I think that we all know that Ana wouldn't want that. I would like to celebrate the engagement while in Colorado away from the press though." Ray has a point.

"That sounds good. I have a flight scheduled to leave Friday from Sea-Tac at 3 pm. Monday we'll leave Aspen at the same time to return home. We'll plan what we want to do when we're all on the plane. Now tell me about your move."

Ray and I spend the next thirty minutes talking about how the Mayor approached him when they started to uncover some corrupt policies. We talk about his need to have land around his home, so he plans to find a short-term lease apartment while he takes his time finding the right property. Plus, he wants to sell his Tacoma home before purchasing again.

By the time Ray leaves to go meet up with Ana and Kate, I realize we talked over an hour longer than I had planned. I'm just sitting down to my computer again when Ros calls and informs me that we need to go to Portland to deal with some problems at the factory there. I tell her to schedule it with Andrea and we'll take Charlie Tango down on Wednesday morning. Hopefully, I'll have things sorted with Ana by then.

* * *

Ana's POV

"What up poptart? Steele, you look rather peachy today." Kate's entrance into the diner makes me smile. She tosses her large bag in the chair next to me and ignores me as she starts talking all things girls' night with Brooklynne. Lunch was a lively affair, even though I couldn't get Christian's reaction in his office out of my mind the entire time. The hour passes quickly and we return to GEH in time for Elliot to grab Brooklynne. I don't miss the looks that pass between Kate and Elliot during the exchange.

"Ana, I think we've got a decent outline to take to the editor. He wanted more details into your childhood and your relationship with Christian though." Kate is looking over all the notes we've made as we prepare for the meeting at SIP.

"Not going to happen. I'm not commenting on anything more than what I've given you already. They want me to do this with them, they do it my way. As it is, I plan to tell them their 24 day press tour has to be trimmed down to 10 days. I'm not willing to be away from home and my family longer than that. I'm also not going to work with Hyde. I can't now. I've got what I need to take to Roach. He was informed this morning that there was to be no one else in the meeting with us today."

"Can I just say, I love it when you get all kick ass confident. You're preparing for battle right now, and as much as I love seeing you like this, something's wrong. Tell me what it is." Kate and her inherit intuition.

"I ran some security drills today checking for weaknesses in the GEH defenses and Christian and I had a fight about protocol. We'll work it out, but there is something niggling me in the back of my head. I feel like he was trying to say something else, but I didn't hear it when he was yelling. He was pretty pissed."

"What did you do? I want to be on your side, but that man is a control freak. If he lost it enough to really yell at you and make you this introverted, I'm guessing you're feeling guilty. So, what was it?" Damn her, I don't want to talk about this now.

"Protocol states that Christian evacuates immediately, without waiting for me. I was supposedly loss in the hustle and they had to practically drag him onto the helicopter. I was at Esacla waiting for him, but he was still pissed when he found out that if something like that really happened, I would be staying behind. I mean it's my job. I'm the Chief of Security."

"You know, for a certified genius, you can be really dumb sometimes. The man loves you. I suggest you apologize profusely and hope that your newfound sexpertise gets you out of this pickle, because frankly, I agree with him. You always put everyone ahead of yourself and one of these days you're going to regret it when you find yourself in a situation you can't get yourself out of." With that Kate grabs her briefcase and we head out to head down to SIP.

The whole way to SIP, with Sawyer driving and one eye on me in the rearview mirror and Ellis sitting in the passenger seat, I think over the neverending list of things that I have to take care of. Maybe Kate is right. I try to do too much myself. Currently the list is only getting longer and longer. I'm still trying to track Elena down. I've got reports running again on Leila, and Adrienne Flemming. Griffin is busy hacking Hyde's home computers for me. Then there is the lists of ex-subs I have got to track down, my mother and her husband, the boys from Texas. I've got to write a report on all the information I discovered today, write a proposal for the new biometric security system I want installed, as well as set up a program for implementing more secure access cards. I have a teleconference with the White House this week, and I have to get at least two chapters for this damn book done with Kate. And to top this all off, I've got some creepy rat bastard popping up from my past with photos I never want to see in the public. It's a lot to get done and it makes me secretly hope some disaster leaves us stranded in Aspen this weekend.

Meeting with Jerry Roach went pretty much the way I expected. He knows what a book with my name attached will do for his company. It won't save SIP, but it will make it look more favorable to buyers. He was more than willing to assign a new editor, Courtney Holland. Her editorial history is strong, and she has no problem working directly with Kate first then me. The only thing Roach really didn't want to agree with was the length of the press tour.

"No matter what, we'll need to end the tour at the White House. The President's aid called last week with three possible dates. If your going to shorten the length we'll select the October date, October 12, 2017. There is already bookings for the 29th of September. I don't want to cancel those. That's fourteen days. Can we compromise on that?" Jerry looks exasperated and I don't blame him. I'm being a bit of a diva and I know it's my frustration over my time with Christian today bleeding over.

"I want one full day to return to Seattle with no commitments. I want to fly in the night before and fly out the morning after my day off. I'll need breaks between cities that aren't spent on planes. All of my accommodations and security must be handled alongside Jason Taylor." Personal matters of security fall to Taylor. He set it all up so it's Christian preapproved.

"We can agree to that. I'm going to schedule early release for September 26th. That will allow reviews to trickle in as the tour starts. Public publication will be October 3rd. You should be able to generate plenty buzz and a considerable amount of presales by then. When the first chapter comes in and is approved by your editor, we'll get a press release out after the fourth of July holiday announcing your contract and scheduled release with us. Are you sure you want the proceeds redirected?"

"I want Kate to receive her fee for ghostwriting for me. I'm not a writer. I'm a computer nerd. I can type fast, but I'm not creative with words. I don't want the royalties from this. I don't want to do this, but when your commander in chief tells you he needs you to do this, you do it. If that's all Mr. Roach, I need to get back to my office. When the contracts get done, just send them over to me at GEH."

Kate and I are quick to say our goodbyes. We have been introduced to Courtney and set up a schedule with her. The receptionist has our contact details. I want to get back and get the last of my research done for today.

"Hey, Steele, isn't that Christian's work wife over there?" Kate stops me with a hand on my arm, and sure enough, Ros is talking to someone in a conference room. She looks around like she's waiting on someone else, but not once does she look in my direction. I wonder what she's doing here. Now I really want to get back to the office and pull Griffin's search reports from the last few weeks.

"Yeah, that's Ros. $500 says Christian's got something to do with her being here." I can just imagine what his excuse will be.

"Like what, he's decided to branch out into publishing? And what is it with you Steele/Greys? You'll put down money on anything it seems." Kate shakes her head the whole way out the building. I wait until we are in the car and headed back to Grey House before I respond.

"It's more like Christian has a control issue. I'm sure he's getting ready to buy SIP. One of two reasons, maybe both now, but I bet the first is his control freak tendencies. Being an owner gives him more control over the book and what kind of deal I get. Being an owner also gives him access to all their employee and author files as well as a complete audit of their servers. He can increase the security strength they possess. The other and most recent reason will be Jack Hyde. Christian can dig around more now, legally anyway, and fire him and take away his livelihood." I know it will be both now. I want to be mad at Christian for it, but I don't know that I have it in me after today.

Hell, I can't wait to hear what Dad has to say about this morning. I know he was laughing when Brook started throwing the glitter around Taylor's office. I forgot to mention that he still had some stuck to his butt when we were at Escala earlier. I'm sure Dad will ream a new one along with Christian. Shit, he may even follow through on his threat to spank my ass finally after 25 years.

Christian on the other hand, I don't know what to do about this. I'm at a loss. I can see his point to an extent. However, this is my job. If it was Griffin in charge, this wouldn't be an issue. I think where I'm having trouble is this. Is it a female issue, or just that Christian and I are in a relationship issue? If we weren't dating, and I was just his employee, would he be this upset with the protocol?

These are just some of the questions I need answers to. I think back to my conversation with Dad from Saturday while we were at the gym. I know I've got to talk to Christian about Finn and the decisions I need to make regarding my future government contract work. Then there is what do I want in the future. I know I want to be with Christian, I want to marry him, I want to start a family with him. I just don't know how soon I want that to happen. By the time we reach GEH I've worked myself up into a tizzy and thankfully most everyone knows to stay out of my way. I'm going to need Reynolds to meet me on the mats this evening to work this frustration out before I talk with Christian.


	16. Chapter 15

2/23/18

 **A/N: Steele Love is taking a break next week, so that I can update my other three stories. That's right, Submissive Beginning is getting its conclusion next week finally. Grey Vitals and Unavowed will be updated as well. Then I'll be back on Tuesday, March 6** **th** **with the next chapter of Steele Love.**

 **When you review, and please review, let me know if you got an update notification. FFN was down this morning and I've tried to get this uploaded twice now. Hopefully it takes this time.**

 **I don't own FSoG or most of my characters. Mistakes are my own, no awesome beta. Also, Pinterest boards will be updated after the weekend.**

 **There is a little something left at the end. I'm gonna run and hide now.**

 **Laters**

* * *

 **A Steele Love**

 **Chapter 15**

Christian's POV

I pay Flynn too much damn money. I pay him a retainer and he bills me hourly and his only solution to what is going on with Ana and me is to talk it out. He said we needed to talk calmly, no yelling, and come up with a compromise. Hell, I had already thought of that and didn't think it was an option. I skipped out on the security meeting with her and Taylor on Monday afternoon and went to see Flynn instead. I skipped having dinner with her and Ray and took Ryan and Waters to the gym instead. After locking myself in my office for another three hours, I went to bed around midnight. I was lucky Ana didn't lock me out. She was already asleep and had stayed strictly on her side of the bed. I went to sleep, fitfully, and prayed she would reach for me in the night.

I was up and out of the penthouse before she even woke up Tuesday morning. I spent the entire day in my office yelling at my employees and trying to figure out a way to make things right with Ana. Not once did I ask Taylor about his meeting with her the day before. I have no desire to hear whatever shit she's got to say to justify what she did. I've tried to find a way to broach this with her. I need to make it right before we go to Aspen. I want to be able to propose to her there and celebrate with the family, but I can't do it with this hanging over us like a dark cloud.

The only thing that I feel I was able to properly accomplish was my meeting with Elliot. He was able to get the blueprints to the house and is already starting to apply for permits. Next week after we have keys we will do a walk through and he'll get us a list of designers so that we can get going. Elliot promised to hire four new guys to fill in on his other projects so that he can dedicate a full team to the house. He says if he can get demo done by the end of next week, he can promise to have everything done for us, including the wall and guard shack, and Taylor and Gail's house, by the end of October. That's four months and we'll be able to move into our new home and start our fresh future together. If she'll still have me anyway.

Tuesday night, we were able to make polite conversation on the way home from work. We had dinner together with her father and when I asked if we could talk in my office, she told me she couldn't and locked herself in her office for the night. She came to bed just after ten. I pulled her to me and told her I loved her. She said she loved me to and I was able to sleep peacefully for the night.

Now here it is Wednesday morning, June 21st. I'm leaving in ten minutes so that I can meet Ros at SeaTac and head to Portland. I sit on the edge of the bed on her side and watch her sleep. She's so serene in her rest, and the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on.

"Snow White. I need you to wake up for a moment. Baby, let me see those pretty blues." She starts to stir, and her eyes flutter open.

"What's the matter Christian?" Her voice is a husky whisper coated in her sleep.

"Nothing baby. I have to head out to go to Portland with Ros. I wanted to kiss you before I left. I know things aren't their best, but I love you Ana." My emotions are rolling through me and I want to gather her in my arms and smother her with my scent and make her promise that everything will be alright.

"We'll talk when you come home. I love you too Christian." Ana raised her hand and strokes my cheek and I lean into her palm. "Do me a couple favors though."

"Anything baby." I mean it too. I'll do anything to make this right.

"Promise me that you'll call me before you fly back."

"Done. Anything else?" She looks at me and runs her hand from my cheek and into my hair.

"Find something for my father to do this evening or get him a hotel room for the night." That wasn't expected but okay.

"I'll talk to Ray and suggest he go spend some quality time with my Dad. How about that?" Ana giggles and smiles the first smile I've seen since Monday morning.

"Sounds like Grace will need a referee's shirt for the night."

"I love that sound. They'll be fine. I'll suggest a cigar and cognac night at the Mile High club. They can have a private dining room for the night. Frankly, I think it will do them both some good." Ray will have to keep his fists in check though. Maybe if I send Reynolds with them, Ray will focus on him instead of my Dad if he gets mad.

"We're gonna be okay, aren't we?" I can see the tears starting to form in her eyes and it tears at my heart.

"Yeah, we'll figure it out. I don't know how, but we will. I love you." I place a soft kiss to her lips and smile at her when I pull back. "I promise. We're going to work it out."

"Okay, I love you." I'm already losing her to sleep again.

I make a quick exit, stopping in my office to grab my briefcase, and decide at the last minute to grab an extra piece of jewelry from the top drawer of my desk. I'm not sure if it will make Ana feel better, but it makes me feel better having it. I exit the apartment with Taylor in tow, patting my chest pocket where her engagement ring is safely ensconced.

* * *

Ana's POV

I know I should feel better after talking with Christian this morning, but I feel worse. I'm in a pissy mood and I need to get it under control. I will not turn into Christian Grey 2.0 at the office today. I have a list of things to get done, and I need to make sure it's all done before I go home tonight. I don't need anything left on my plate that will distract me from my talk with Christian.

Sighing to myself I think about his goodbye this morning. I want to believe his words. I want to think that everything will be okay, but I'm not sure that it will. Everyone has been telling me how in the wrong I was. Dad, Taylor, Kate, and Christian have all told me what I did was fucked up. It was a damn security drill. If I wasn't his girlfriend, there wouldn't be an issue. Anyone else in my position would be expected to act the way I did. Right?

Dad told me no matter what the job is, I need to be thinking of Christian in my decisions. Kate told me not to try and play wonder woman. Taylor, he understood the protocol when I designed it. He didn't like it, but he understood it. However, Taylor reamed me a new one for leaving Sawyer behind and taking Brook with me unguarded. He also told me I owe Reynolds a free shot after Christian tried to deck him on the roof.

Christian wants me to think about what I would do if the situations were reversed. I've tried to rationalize it over and over again. I can't seem to get it in my head that Christian wouldn't have done the same thing if our roles were reversed in this situation. If I was the CEO of the company and he was the Chief of Security, he would do the exact same damn thing. Thinking this makes me madder and I want to fucking hit something. Stupid ass chauvinistic male shit is what this is. I don't need to apologize for anything other than not telling Christian about the protocols. I won't change them.

I'm interrupted from my inner musing with a knock at my door. Looking up I see Taylor and wonder what's wrong.

"What's wrong? Aren't you supposed to be in Portland?" Taylor doesn't say anything, but he helps him to a chair in front of my desk after shutting the door. I watch Taylor, rolling his toothpick in his mouth as he unbuttons his jacket and crosses his right ankle over his left knee.

"Well several things are wrong. You and I are going to talk before Christian and Ros get back. To answer your last question, I hardly ever go when he takes Charlie Tango. Reynolds drives down early so they have an escort and he'll drive once they're back in the air." He takes the toothpick from his mouth and drops his arm on the armrest of the chair and looks at me intently, very much the military commander he was trained to be. I have to use some of my special CIA training not to squirm under that gaze.

"Okay. So, what is it?" I lean back in my chair and try to look relaxed, but this is Taylor we're talking about. He'll know I'm anything but relaxed.

"Monday, you told me you were hiring all four of your interviewees. Your IT guy, Max Hayes, put him in an office, alone. All these deep reports you and Griffin are juggling, make them his priority. That is enough work for one-person full time. Next, I need you to turn over everything you have on Elena and the fifteen. I'm putting Ryan on that tail. It's going to be his focus. I don't want anyone new on it, but you're looking like shit and whatever's going on with you and Christian isn't going to straighten out if you don't lessen the work load." Taylor adjusts his tie, looks at his hands and then looks back at me.

"You sound like my father."

"Well, maybe Ray thought you would listen to me better. If not, Gail is prepared to talk to you this evening." I really hate being ganged up on. "Kate has a speech prepared for this afternoon as well if I call her."

I sign and shake my head. "I don't like this shit Taylor. He'd never have acted this way with Welch. You guys would have continued to let him handle all of this and more if I hadn't discovered his deception."

"You're right we would have. Then again, Alex Welch was a righteous bastard and not our friend or loved one." He places the toothpick back in his mouth and arches an eyebrow at me.

"You mean Alex Welch was a man. I'm a woman, and this is sexism at the core. If this were reversed, and it was Christian doing my job and me his, he would have done the same damn thing and none of you would give fuck all about what I felt." I'm getting madder now. I should feel bad about Taylor being in my line of fire, but I don't. I need to focus my energy elsewhere.

"Bullshit and you know it Ana. If this were reversed, Christian would feel secure in his position and wouldn't care about what others thought about how he got there. He would say fuck all of them and not leave your side. If you weren't so damn insecure, you wouldn't give a shit either. The panic in that man was unbearable. I don't think that you understand what it would do to you if something happened to him. He was near homicidal by the time we touched down on Escala's roof." Now Taylor is yelling at me and I'm fall of righteous indignation.

"What the fuck do I need to be insecure about? I'm a highly trained government secret op agent. I have millions in my bank account and don't need to work, but here I am, doing the job I was hired to do. A job you recommended me for." I've slammed both of my fists down on the desk and I swear there is steam coming out of my ears.

"You were a secret op agent. You're not anymore. There is nothing secret about you anymore other than your codename." With that Taylor stands, buttons his jacket back up and looks down at me. "You need to figure things out. You can't have it all Ana. You're either an employee who happens to sleep with her boss, or you're the respected partner of the man you share your life with and you just happen to work for him. You're not an undercover agent anymore, don't let that affect your decisions. If you're dedicated him, you should be thinking of him in every decision you make, including the ones where your own security is concerned. As for you being insecure, you are. You're as insecure as any woman I've ever seen. You're worried about people think that you only got the job because you're sleeping with Christian. You feel you need to act tough and put on this front to prove that isn't the case. You feel the need to be a badass to prove that you weren't just a pretty face with the agency. Hell, Reynolds's has had more bruises than he should because of your insecurity."

I stare open mouthed at Taylor as he leaves, leaving the door standing wide open. Shit. He's right, I'm not CIA anymore. I had already decided to tell Finn to take a hike soon, but I've been clinging to that part of my identity. I've been clinging to Anastasia Steele and the live I've built over the years. No matter what my job is, I have to think about my own security risks and step back. I don't know how to navigate a life without the CIA to think about. That's the scary part. I've always been my own self, now I'm half of a power couple in Seattle and I need to stop thinking of just myself and consider Christian in my decisions. But how do I find a balance between my old self and the woman I'm becoming with Christian?

* * *

Andrea's POV

Today, I wish that Mia Grey wasn't a Grey. If she were anyone else, I could hire her permanently. She's been a dream assistant since she started, and it's not been two days. She perfect with the phones. She polite and professional. But Christian doesn't trust her with computer access and I know she hates being right under her brother. I've already handed her the link to the GEH job search site. She'd be perfect in PR or as someone else's PA.

"Hello Ladies, how are you today?" I look up from my desk as I hear the voice of our unexpected visitor.

"Ana, what are you doing up here?" She looks like crap, not that I would tell her that. Mr. Grey didn't look much better yesterday. I know they've been arguing about Monday's drills, but I don't understand why.

"I have some reports Mr. Grey needed and thought I'd come up here and see you girls. Plus, I was wondering if you knew what time Christian was due back from Portland." She's waiving a manila folder and taking quick glances at his office doors.

"He has a 1 o'clock scheduled with Mr. James and his lawyer to try and complete the deal on the nanotech company in New York." At the mention of the meeting, Mia excuses herself to go make the copies Christian said he needed before then.

"She's been doing a better job then I think any of us expected." I tell Ana all about how excellent Mia's doing. "She'd be perfect here if there was some other place for her, but Christian doesn't trust her after that stunt with the credit card. She's not enthused about being directly under Christian either."

"Hmm, well maybe something will come up. Here's the reports you needed for your interviews today as well. I take it you're waiting till Mr. Grey's in the office to do them." I see a small smile play on her lips.

"Yes, I need someone who can sit behind this desk and not make goo-goo eyes at him. If they can't, I don't need to continue the interview. Any chance the male applicants aren't gay?" I really need someone that will stick around.

"One of them is. He's married though. So, you might get lucky. Let me know how it goes." We chat for a few minutes before Mia returns and the chat quickly turns to the Grey family trip to Aspen this weekend.

"I've set all the arrangements with the flight crew, so we should be able to get out of here no problems on Friday." Mia was proud of herself when she was able to confirm everything yesterday with no problems. It was one of the first tasks that I gave her.

"Good. I hear Noah turned down Christian's invitation to go with us. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you Andrea?" Ana waggles her eyebrows at me and Mia giggles at the suggestion.

"I might have a date with him on Saturday. He asked to take me to dinner and then dancing. I have no clue where he's taking me and frankly, I'm happy you will all be out of town. It'll be less likely that Mr. Grey will call me with work. I don't remember the last time I had a date, or at least one that wasn't interrupted with some urgent task."

"What do you mean? Christian has you on call 24/7?" Mia looks aghast and now I laugh.

"This is a salaried job Mia. There are no set hours. I am wherever Mr. Grey tells me to be. Also, you need to remember at the office he's not your bother, so stop calling him Christian." Mia instantly looks contrite and stares down at her hands.

"Sorry." It's small sounding and I don't say anything when Ana looks at me. I won't put up with the spoiled rich girl shit. Neither would Ana.

"Well I'm going to get back to my office. I'll see you girls later. Andrea, will you let me know when Mr. Grey arrives?" Ana starts toward the elevators.

"Sure thing Ana." Before I can say anything else, the phone is ringing and Mia's answering. I sit back down to check emails. There is a 2:30 with research and development and I need to get ahold of Mr. Grey to see if I need to move it in case his meeting with Mr. James runs long.

After ten minutes and three unanswered calls, I can only hope that Mr. Grey is already in the air and on his way back to Seattle.

* * *

Ana's POV

Upon returning to my office I find a frazzled Hannah pounding harshly on her keyboard. "Something wrong Hannah?"

"Ms. Steele, I need to talk with you about a few things." I can see resignation in her expression and I'm scared she's about to quit.

"What's the matter Hannah?" We're quickly in my office and on the couch with the door closed.

"There is too much to do. You've got me doing so much and I can't get it done in a timely manner and still do all the regular parts of my job description. When you hired me, I expected I was going to be a highly paid secretary. You've got me writing report summaries, liaising between departments for you, on top of running errands, answering phones, your calendar maintenance, plus we're falling behind in the filing of all the reports. I can't do it all." She looks completely exasperated.

"You shouldn't have to do it all either. Andrea's interviewing for her new assistant this afternoon. We'll go through her applicants and pull a few in. Give me till the end of next week and we'll get some help." I pat Hannah on her shoulder and see her breathe a sigh of relief.

"If you could just get a personal assistant that would help. I've been more an assistant to you than a secretary. I do more with the paperwork than anything and I like that. I feel like I'm using my education. I didn't get a degree to answer phones all my life, but I don't want to leave GEH and you either." She looks hopeful and on the verge of tears. She's right of course.

"You're right. You do more assisting me in my job than anything. We need someone to answer the phones, and maintain my calendar, run the errands. If you didn't have to focus on those tasks, could you still do all the liaising and filing with the reports?" I'm not sure I can find someone else with the tough shit attitude she gets when the other departments call demanding something.

"Certainly. With all the new measures coming into play soon, I just can't keep up with it all. I've not been able to attend any of my Krav Maga classes in over a week because there has been to much to do." I suggested the classes to Hannah as a way to build her muscles and make her better prepared in certain situations. She needs to learn to defend and run. Krav Maga is all about quick and dirty work. It will allow her to incapacitate an assailant and run for help.

"Okay. We'll get someone in here. I think I'm going to add the travel requirement for this description with me. I'm going to be on the press tour at the end of September and will want whoever with me. I've added the dates that I won't be it the office to the calendar already. Hopefully whoever we hire is fashionable. I'm going to be on TV and need all the help I can get." Hannah laughs at me and I join her.

"Please. You have your own fan Instagram pages. You're fashionable enough on your own. I want to know how you plan to get your gun on the plane with you though." Yeah, that's why I need Christian to go with me. I'm not going to be able to take the punisher with me on a commercial plane. I'm going to need the GEH jet.

"We'll figure something out." Hannah is quick to dismiss herself and return to her work. I try to get back into my own, but I can't stop looking at the clock and wondering why Christian hasn't answered any of my texts. It's nearing 11:30 and I'm hoping that he's in the air on his way back. He promised to let me know when he was headed home, but I'm guessing he forgot.

I open up a browser and get to work on pulling a list of the checks I have running. I called Max Hayes after talking with Taylor. He returned to Texas last night, when we offered him a GEH apartment for three months. He'll be reporting to work on Tuesday when I return from Aspen. When I reach the names of my Texas past, I sit and think about the things that seemed like a lifetime ago. I never thought I would get out of there. Then one of my counselors suggested the early graduation and helped me apply for my emancipation. It was the best decision I ever made. Hacking Brad in his family was the worst I think. My life would be completely different if I hadn't done it. Then again, I could have kept everything I found to myself and became a black hatter. I'd have become one of the ones I work everyday to stop.

I can't have regrets now though. Everything that has happened in my life has led me to Christian, and I hope my future is still traveling next to his. I love him more than anything. I don't think he'd make me quit, but I know he certainly feels like I don't need to work. I need him to understand that I do need to work. I like what I do here. I just hope we can come to some sort of resolution and compromise.

There is a knock at my door and I look up to see a nervous looking Griffin is standing there rocking back and forth on his heels with his hands in his pockets. "What's up Griff?"

"I have a few things to show you in the war room. You might want to call Taylor and Sawyer over." He turns immediately and walks to my dedicated conference room. I grab my phone and send a text to Taylor and Sawyer. By the time I stop and tell Hannah to hold all my calls, both men are at the table when I enter the office.

"Griff, what's going on?" I sit down in my chair and watch him frost the glass and press the buttons to pull out the hidden computer screens from the solid wall.

"I've finally unearthed the original footage from the night of the server room fire. I used the worms that you planted on Monday to override the cameras. It allowed me to write a program to travel back. Whoever helped this guy, he was good. I've copied the code already and have isolated it. Barney is working on removing it right now. Here's what we've got though." We watch him pull up the camera and see a man enter the lobby. He walks right past the security team in a suit waving a badge at them as he passes the desk. Griff tracks him to the basement where he changes into a maintenance uniform and then proceeds to the floor with the server room. He scans the security pass to get through the first set of doors. Just like I did he pulls out an android phone and clips the cord to the security pad and waits for a minute before the program unlocks the pass. Once he was in the server room, he sets a small device next to a server, thankfully a non-essential server. Griff is able to zoom in on the device and finds the timer set for forty-five minutes counting down. We follow the arsonist out of the server room and then back out of GEH. Griffin circles back through the footage over and over trying to get a clear image of his face. The only thing we can get is grainy and it only shows just the guy's ear and his cheek and jawline.

"Run what you can through facial recognition. Send it over to the FBI field office. We promised to cooperate. We don't need any hassle now. Tell them to send someone over here now and get them to dust everything that bastard touched. Its been a month, but maybe they'll get lucky." I turn to Taylor and see his face looking pensive.

"What do we do next?" He looks at me pointedly and I think for a minute.

"First, Barney is going to fall in line and we're getting the biometric systems installed over the weekend while we're in Aspen. I've already ordered the equipment needed to upgrade the security cards. It'll take a few weeks to set up, but it'll prevent that cloning shit from happening again." Sawyer is standing need the monitor and he asks Griff to enlarge the image for him.

"There's an earring there. Whoever this is, he's got a pierced ear." I file that away and get ready to ask Griff to send it to my computer as well when Sawyer speaks up again. "Whose card was swiped in at the moment? Whose card did he clone?"

"That was my next bit of information. One of the rotating part-time security guards, Milton Watts. It was his day off that day, and the next day as well. He called in his first day back on schedule with food poisoning. When he returned, he claimed to have lost his security pass. His old one was removed from the system and a new one reissued."

"Get him in here. Griff, I want new protocols. If someone is not on the clock and their pass is used in the building I want an immediate alert." We talk for a few more minutes before we decide to break away. Christian should be here soon.

Taylor stops me with a hand on my arm as I move to leave the room. "Have you heard from Mr. Grey?"

"No, Andrea says he has a one o'clock, so I assume he'll be here any minute. Did Reynolds say what time he left Portland?"

"Yeah, he left just before eleven. Let me know if you hear from him." Taylor says nothing else and leaves the room. I'm sure it's nothing. Christian would call if there was trouble and if he didn't Ros would.

* * *

Christian's POV

This is the kind of shit that pisses me off. I need to be in Seattle finding a way to fix things with Ana, but no. I'm down here dealing with lazy arrogant assholes.

"Christian, we're going to need to just shut down the factory the rest of the week. The Safety and Labor Commissions rep said we've got to fix three machines before they can be operated again." We came down here just to see why our productions numbers weren't matching the reports we were getting and discovered machines that weren't operating properly. As I was yelling at the plant manager, a machine broke down and its operator was injured, and we had to call the Oregon SLC.

"That's fine. Let's go fire these bastards. We'll take their financials with us to go over this week. Find someone in house to send down next week and get this place back to 100%. We'll see what we can do about finding another manager then."

I've spent an hour with the SLC rep answering questions. Neither Ros nor I have visited this plant for a year. She noticed the numbers not matching on Monday and we decided to make a surprise visit. It was worse than we thought when we got here. I'm praying the media doesn't get wind of this. I hate these kind of working conditions. The place is filthy, the computers are outdated, there is no security whatsoever. We talked to several of the operators, and they've apparently been working unpaid overtime. The number of employees actually clocking in, and those being paid don't add up. Ros has a theory that the plant manager made up employees and paid himself. We'd made the mistake of letting this plant stay independent of GEH, that stops now. From now on, they're going to be added to the servers and same clock management system. They'll be paid through GEH payroll.

Ros and I have decided that all of our subsidiaries are going to be audited over the coming months and each will be brought fully into our own systems.

"Well this went worse than expected. How about we get back to the office and get a drink?"

"I've got a meeting with the nanotech guy from New York to finalize the purchase this afternoon. I can't drink. Then I've got to go home and talk with Ana." My sigh lets her know more than I want too, but I can't help but feel like there going to be an ultimatum thrown down by one of us tonight.

"You two still fighting?"

I proceed to tell Ros all about Monday on the way to the helipad holding Charlie Tango for us. Once we're in the air I tell her about my conversation with Ray.

"You had better hope that Ana never finds out about this. If she hears about it, she's going to see it as you and your dad planning her life without her input. She's only going to hear the barefoot and pregnant connotations and she's going to kick all your asses. Hell, she might pull the punisher out on you for that. I get that you want everything with her and that you want it right now, but did either of you boneheaded men stop to think about what she wants?"

Ros is right of course. I haven't thought about it. She might say no, or she might just want to put kids on hold. I don't know what I'll do with either of those options, but I can't have a life without her.

"We've got some time. How about I show you the view of Mount Reiner?"

"Sounds good Christian. Now, tell me how you're going to propose to Ana?" I tell her about the hiking trail at the back of my property. I want to go out just the two of us.

Ros is soon telling me about how she proposed to Gwen. They'd been in New York for a week together when Ros went to set up our office there. They'd gone across the bridge to Coney Island. Ros says she just blurted out "Marry me" while Gwen was stuffing her face full of chili dog. According to her, Gwen nearly choked on her bite and had to wipe her mouth and ask her if she was serious before she answered. Ros said she didn't have ring or anything. She just looked at Gwen and knew she couldn't live another minute without knowing she would be her wife. In all our years together, I'd never heard this story. They had to elope to Vermont to get married after some drama with Gwen's family. I do remember her taking a last-minute vacation and coming back with a wedding band on her left hand.

Just as we're reaching the base of the mountain, we fly over a few groves and I find a rock creek and waterfall that looks amazing from the air. "This is beautiful Christian." We fly around for a few more minutes, enjoying the view, when just as I start to pull back up on our altitude, the controls on my panel start to go a little bit haywire. "Christian, what's going on?"

"I'm not sure. I'm going to radio the tower and head back to Seattle." I start to pull the helicopter to right to change directions and the alarms go off. There's a fire in the second engine.

"November 124 Charlie Tango to tower. 124 Charlie Tango to tower." I try fruitlessly to get in contract with the control tower and fail. After a minute the fire suppression system puts the fire out.

"Christian what's going on?" Ros is looking panicked and has her left hand gripping the top of the helicopter and the right gripping the side of her seat.

"The second engine caught fire, but the suppression system worked. We still have the first. Don't worry this is the safest Eurocopter on the market. Our coms are out though. Hopefully they'll be working by the time we get back. Only fifteen minutes and we'll be there. We're going tomake it back just fine." Famous last words. The minute I finished, the other engine catches fire and we start to lose altitude.

Ros is screaming now, I'm trying to maintain control of the gear shaft. I think I remember seeing a clearing just over to the left. If I can set us down there we'll be fine. I just have to keep us from dropping down into the trees before we get there.

I look at Ros and see her crying, I realize quickly, we most likely won't make it out of the trees completely. My right hand leaves the gear stick and clutches my jacket over my heart. The ring. Will I get to give the ring to Ana?

There are all manner of questions trolling through my head as we hit the first tree. Our speed isn't helping, and soon we're barreling into the ground windshield first. We hit just at the edge of the clearing. The glass is immediately shattered, and I can hear metal tearing, the rotators are still moving.

There is a pain in my left shoulder and my knee is pinned under the control panel. I try to turn my head to look at Ros who keeps screaming my name. She sounds far off, and I realize quickly, I can't turn my neck without pain. Shit this is bad. I leave my hand on my heart thinking of Ana as the darkness takes over me.

"Christian, Christian!"

* * *

 **A/N #2: Please don't hate me. The story will continue in ten days.**


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N: So it's been ten days. I'm delivering the follow up to that nasty cliff hanger as promised. I had some setbacks last week with my nerves and tremors, so it's another delay for Grey Vitals and Submissive Beginning. Hopefully they'll be done and ready for posting by the end of the week.**

 **If you haven't already, you should join the Top Five FSoG Stories group on Facebook. The polls for March are up and ready for your voting pleasure. Last month, A Steele Love was voted third for best new author. This month, A Steele Love is nominated for Best Ana.**

 **Those of you following and waiting for my blogger to be up and ready, please be patient with me. I'm adding a little more to it. Next month I will be participating in Camp NaNoWriMo. I'm so excited for the story that I'm planning. It's a complete departure from anything I've written so far, and I have plans to tweak it and publish to Amazon in May under a pen name. It's going to be an experience and an experiment, but I'm super excited for it. Shout out to LadyChamp for telling me I can do it and to all the ladies from FSoG and More who talked with me last night and shared their words of wisdom. Special props to missmusicteach for her help late into the night last night. I woke up to wonderful surprises in my message box this morning. I plan to post my story next month, after a few weeks into it, so be on the lookout for** ** _Falling Undercover_** **sometime next month. I'll probably only leave it online a week after it's completed before pulling it down to edit and publish.**

 **Thank you to each of you that have hung with me. I might turn out to be a failure as a published author, but I wouldn't have the guts to try and so it if it weren't for each of you.**

 **Lots happening this chapter, but no cliff hanger. I don't own FSoG. No beta, mistakes are my own.**

 **Laters**

* * *

 **A Steele Love**

 **Chapter 16**

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Ana's POV

Looking at my watch for the hundredth time, I sigh. It's after two o'clock in the afternoon. Christian had a meeting at one and he promised to let me know when he was on his way back. I've not heard a word from him and that's unusual. I know things have been strained, but I thought after his goodbye this morning that we were headed toward getting back to where we were. There is a nervous pit growing in my stomach and I can't think straight. I already asked Hannah to bring me a cup of tea, but that didn't help settle my nerves one bit. I can't take this anymore.

Walking out of my office, I spot Sawyer stationed by the war room, his usual location. He sees me and walks over to me. "I'm going upstairs. Christian was supposed to be back an hour ago and he never called me. I'm going to chew his ass out." I don't wait for a response before turning to the elevator. The ride is over in ten seconds and when I step onto the executive floor, the air is stiff with tension. Mia looks distracted behind her desk with Andrea. Andrea is on the phone talking quietly to someone. There is a man waiting on the couch to the right of the elevator. I start toward Andrea and spot Taylor talking with Reynolds near the kitchenette. Something isn't right.

"Mia, what's going on?" She looks up at me, not having realized someone else had arrived on the floor. She has a caught in the headlights look on her face and my fear ratchets up another notch.

"Umm, Ana, we can't get Christian and Ros to answer their phones." My eyes widen and I can feel my heartbeat accelerate. Taylor is at my side immediately and steering me away from the desk.

"What the hell is going on Jason? Where are Christian and Ros?" I'm trying to control the fear and my voice is clouding over with anger. It's his job to protect Christian. If something has happened. No! I can't think that way.

"We don't know. Reynolds got here while I was in the war room with you earlier. I've already contacted SeaTac and they've lost contact with Charlie Tango." I feel the ground collapse under me and its' only Sawyer's hands that keep me from hitting the ground. I didn't even realize he was beside me. As soon as I feel steady, I head back to the elevator, punching the button trying to call it to me quickly. The ride seems to take forever, but I'm soon on my floor and heading to my war room.

This is why I designed this room. I don't even bother frosting the glass before I'm grabbing the controls and pulling out all of my monitors. Within minutes, I'm pulling GPS links for both Christian and Ros's phones as well as tracking Charlie Tango's route to Portland and back. The last ping for the helicopter was 5 miles southeast of Mount Rainier. Their phones' GPS hasn't registered since they took off. Both of those idiots turned them off for the flight.

I hear Taylor's phone ring in the background and I try to listen to his conversation as I start to hack satellites to scan the area of the last ping.

"Ana, that was Air Traffic Control. They've officially declared Charlie Tango missing. We need to gather the family. The press will find out soon and I want you all in one central location when that happens." I can feel myself nodding, but I'm not paying much attention. Once I've got the uplink I start to scan and all I see are trees. Trees, trees, and more damn trees. I can't find anything indicative of a crash, nor do I see smoke indicating a fire. "Ana, we need to move to Escala. Sawyer has already called and directed the rest of the family there. Come on."

"Ana, I'll stay here and keep looking." Griffin is next to me and he places a gentle hand on top of mine to still my fingers on the keyboard. "If I find anything, I will call you immediately."

I simply nod and head back to my office. Grabbing my bag, I see the time over the door and it's nearing four already. What the hell? It seems like I was just upstairs five minutes ago. Sawyer and Taylor both meet me at the elevator and one of them press the down button before I remember Mia is still upstairs. "We need to go up and get Mia. She may be working, but she needs to be with us. This is going to kill her." Sawyer nods and presses the up button. Once we're in the elevator, Taylor takes my side, Sawyer in front. When we get to the top floor, Mia and Reynolds are waiting for us. You can tell that Mia has been crying. Her eyes are red rimmed but haven't reached a puffy state yet.

"He's going to be safe, right?" Her words are a whisper and I can only nod.

I don't remember the ride to Escala, or even getting upstairs to the penthouse. I finally become aware of my surroundings when Dad takes me in my arms and whispers words of encouragement in my ear. "Be strong now sweet pea. Everything will work out." I want to agree with him, but I'm not sure that it will.

I take a seat on the couch in the great room while Mia scampers off to turn on the TV in the media room. One by one the cavalry starts to arrive. Elliot and Brooklynne are first. I hear Elliot tell Sawyer he heard something on the Radio. Brooklynne takes up with Gail on a cookie mission.

Next to enter is Grace and Carrick. He's stern looking and ready to take over. Carrick immediately draws Taylor and Dad out of the room to talk. Grace, ever the poised lady that is, simply sits next to me and takes my hand in hers. No words are spoken, we just cling to one another. Before long, Gail and Brook are joining us with tea and cookies, but I don't pay any attention to them.

Soon enough, my phone is ringing. I note the time, after 5, and see it's Andrea. "Hey Andrea." My voice is weak and clouded with worry.

"Hey Ana, I just wanted to give a head up. CNN just called asking for a statement. It's about to go national that the Billionaire is missing. GEH is surrounded right now. Downstairs has already bounced two reporters from trying to get in." I take a deep breath. This is too much. I want to find Christian and I feel completely powerless at the moment. I should have demanded he wear his tracker this morning. I was riddled with sleep and didn't think of it though.

"Thanks Andrea. You get out of there soon before you're trapped for the night. The switchboard can give the standard No comment or they can refer all inquiries to PR."

"I'll be out of here soon Ana. I um, I've talked to Noah. I'm going to his place, so if you need me for anything, I'll be close." I can hear the hesitation in her voice and I'm not sure why it's there.

"You two are more then welcome up here. You both have the code. Call Sawyer when you get close though, and he'll have someone help you get into the garage without being swarmed. If the vultures are at GEH, I'm sure they are here too. Thankfully everyone is here already."

"I don't think we should intrude Ana. But will you let us know when you guys hear something?" Gosh, this is harder than it should be. Everyone sounds resigned like something bad has already happened. Like there is no hope. I've got to snap them all out of this.

"I'll call you guys." We are quick to say our goodbyes and before I can take another deep breath, the elevator is pinging the arrival of another party. I look to the entry way and see Kate saunter in, worry scowled deeply across her face. Brooklynne is up and running to her.

"KKaaaattteeeeeee!" Kate is quick to bend down and scoop her up in her arms and greet her.

"Hey pop tart. I've missed you." They quickly exchange hugs and sweet kisses before Kate walks to Elliot and hugs him the same. Seeing the three of them embrace like that, makes them look like a real family. Brooklynne shimmies out of their grasp and runs back to her grandmother.

I watch Kate and Elliot talk before she joins me on the couch. Elliot heads back to the media room where Mia has holed herself up. "Ana, how are you holding up?" She takes the seat next to me, opposite Grace's side grabbing my other hand.

"Barely. I don't know what to do. We've barely spoken since Monday. He was so sweet this morning, promising to talk everything out tonight and make it all right. We exchanged our I love yous, but that can't be the last time. This can't be it. After everything, this can't be it." The reality of the situation starts to crash around me. Grace jumps in trying to calm me. Kate is rubbing my back, soon my father is crouched down in front of me trying to shush me. I can't be around all of them right now. I stand and skirt around all of them and soon find myself in Christian's office.

I couldn't listen to it anymore. It's almost 6 pm and Sawyer was telling Carrick that search and rescue will only continue another four or five hours before they suspend their efforts till the morning. I've not heard back from Griffin yet and I can only assume that the tracker stopped working before whatever happened, happened. We could be searching miles from where they really are. They could be hurt and in pain. He could be bleeding and suffering, or worse he could be dying.

I can't think like that though. The hold of panic on my heart constricts a little more and I know I need to distract myself. I start looking through the files on Christian's desk. I have to laugh to myself when I find the file on SIP. I was right, the megalomaniac is going to buy it. Figures. Good though, Hyde will be the first thing he gets rid of. There are a few more files there, some deals in progress that I was already aware of.

I start looking through drawers. I've never gone through his office and I suppress another chuckle when I find the tin full of bite size Reese's peanut butter cups. They're his favorite, but Mr. Healthy and Fit doesn't like for anyone to see him eat them.

I remove the tin from the drawer and proceed to eat his stash. Chocolate and peanut butter, the best combination. I get to his next drawer and I pause when I find a velvet box. It's the box for his tracker. Damn it. I'm going to surgically implant a chip in him when we find him. And we will. I don't know why, but I opened the frigging box and found it empty. Wait! Did he grab it himself? Maybe.

Think Steele. Think. Did I check for the tracker when I was at GEH? I don't think I did. I don't even realize what I'm doing before the tears are flowing with hope and I'm racing out of the room. I hit the back of someone in my rush to get upstairs to my office and I can hear people shouting my name.

I grab my super-secret laptop from my hidden drawer and power it up. My office starts to fill with security men. Everyone is talking to me and I'm ignoring each one, focused on my task once more. Hope is springing forward and when I look up I see Carrick and Ray both staring at me baffled along with the rest of my love's security men.

A smile cracks across my face as I toss the empty velvet box to Taylor just as my program launches. I can hear him talking to someone, but I can't focus on the words. I'm launching the sequence for Christian's bracelet and a sob retches from my throat when the signal pops up on the screen. Taylor is behind me immediately and sees it as well. Soon he's on the phone barking orders. I race out of the room and down to our bedroom. I need out of this dress if I'm going to get Christian and bring him home.

Soon I'm in jeans and a tshirt and hiking boots rushing back to the great room. "Taylor, get us a chopper. Griffin can meet us with the transponder that will track his signal and direct the search team to them."

"No." Taylor is standing in front of me and I see Dad next to him. Sawyer is behind me. I scan the rest of the room and note six men from our security team, and two women.

"What the hell do you mean No?" I tried to keep from yelling the words at him, but I failed at the end of my question.

"This is a personal security matter, not a GEH security matter. That means I'm in charge. You're staying here with the rest of the family. I'm taking Reynolds and Bartlett with me." Taylor is looking hardened to my plight and I start to bow up on him, fists clenched at my sides.

"Annie, you need to calm down. You going down there emotional like this will not help. Taylor is right though. This is his rodeo. You stay in your lane and he stays in his, remember?" Shit. He's throwing my words back at me.

"I need to be there. I have to help find him. Can't you see that I need to be with him?" The tears are trekking down my cheeks as I look up to Taylor. Sawyer is quick to step up behind me and place his hands on my arms, just above my elbows.

"I know what you want Ana, but protocol dictates that everyone remain here. As soon as we locate him, we'll call you and tell you where we're going. I have to go now though. The search and rescue team need that transponder." I try to wrestle free from Sawyer's grip to run after them, but it doesn't work. I'm frantic and I know it's a losing fight. I could use special maneuvers to get out of the hold, but my fear is tamping down my instincts. This isn't who I am. I am not one to be overcome with emotion like this. This is what love does to you.

Dad is grabbing me from Sawyer soon. Holding me in his arms, he tells me everything will all right. I'll be in Christian's arms soon and everything will be as it should be. I hate that they kept me from going. I hate this worry that is clawing at my chest. I hate that my sobs won't stop and that everyone is seeing me like this. I hate all of this.

In a true moment of clarity, I suddenly understand how Christian felt on Monday when Taylor dragged him out of GEH and onto Charlie Tango. I have fucked up. I only hope that I get the chance to make it up to him.

* * *

Mia's POV

Seeing Ana like this is heart shattering. I've spent the last three days mad at Christian and suddenly I don't understand why. I've actually started to like working with Andrea. I know that she's planning to bring someone else in soon, but I'm hoping I can stay with her a little longer. Frankly, I wouldn't mind doing the same thing for someone else in the building.

Christian was right though, I've been spoiled for way to long. I talked to Mom and Dad last night after my first day at work. I asked them not to pay for more than my cell phone bill and to keep my insurance going for now. Once I have a job secured, I'll do it myself. I'll live within the means of my trust fund until I get a full time job and start paying my own way. I'm going to talk to Christian about the apartment as well. I want him to let me use the trust fund to buy a place myself. I don't want him to do it. There is plenty money in that account to afford a small two bedroom in a decent building. I won't need some place extravagant.

I've watched everyone cling to one another when I'm not listening to the news programs to see what they're saying about Christian. Mom and Dad seem stronger together then they have in months. Elliot and Kate are even clinging to one another and I wouldn't be surprised if they announce they're exclusively dating soon. Ray has been huddled with Gail and Taylor off and on. Ana though, she's been an island. Watching her breakdown after Taylor left, I can see how much she loves him.

I can't forgive myself for the things I said about her on Monday. I'm going to sit down with her soon and apologize. I'm not sure if Christian told her what I said, but I will. Maybe I can ask her to help guide me. She's done well independently. I would appreciate some advice.

Time crawls by and I find myself thinking of Sean. I thought I was in love with him, but I think it was just infatuation. He's not called me or text me once since the news broke. I tried to text him, but no matter what I erased the message before I could hit the send button. I think I need to break up with him. If I want to be serious, I won't be able to be with him. He's more into partying than I am.

Soon the clock above the fireplace signals that it's nearing nine. I heard Taylor tell dad they would call the search off at ten till daylight tomorrow. I wonder if anyone will get mad if I get a glass a wine. I stand and start for the kitchen when one of the security men rush in.

"They're alive. Everyone needs to head to the garage. We're headed to the hospital." At once, there is a rush to get to the elevators and get to the garage. Soon there is a line of SUVs leaving the building and the flashes are going off as we pull onto the street.

* * *

Ana's POV

Why didn't I remember that bracelet sooner? It's the only thing running through my head as we reach the hospital. Security is quick to surround us and help us into the emergency room. I don't know how but the paparazzi are already here crowding the doors. Questions are thrown, cameras shoved in faces, flashes blinding. Soon we're inside and there is Taylor waiting for us. I don't know how long he's been here, but he looks worn out.

"Taylor." It's all I can say. Grace is quick to secure us a private waiting room. Once inside Taylor waits for us to all calm down and then he addresses us.

"We found them, both alive and trapped in the cockpit of the helicopter. Ros tells me both engines caught fire. Tomorrow they'll investigate that but for now, they're both alive." I watch Taylor take a deep breath and hard swallow before he continues. "Ros has some scratches, but she's fine. Shaken up and in shock, but fine. Christian was unconscious when we found them. They had to use some heavy-duty equipment to get them out of the damn thing. He was bleeding from his scalp and there was a piece of glass imbedded just above his collar bone. He's in surgery now. There is more, but the doctors wouldn't tell me much."

I nod, and collapse in my seat. He's alive, for now. That's what I'm hearing. He's alive, but for how long? He could still leave me. Damn it. I've cried so much already. We sit and wait I don't know how long. Carrick breaks away from Grace and he asks me to accompany him on a coffee run to the cafeteria. I agree with a small nod and follow him out with Sawyer.

"Ana, I don't know exactly what I can say to make you feel better at this moment. I'm not sure that anything I say will make it better for you, but I feel the need to apologize once again. I keep going back to my actions last month, and no matter what, you didn't deserve any of that. I see you struggle with your new position and feel like it's my fault. You've been the boss of your own self for so long, and I see all the men around you dictating things for you and I see your struggle. That's my fault and I'm sorry." He's right. I've struggled for weeks with my new position in life. I would have left undercover work to work with Christian anyway, but it felt more forced after Carrick outed me. "I know you said I was forgiven, but you and I both know that wasn't true. You wanted to move past it so that I could have my relationship with my son. For that I'm grateful. For years, Grace and I have struggled to build a rapport with him, but he always kept us at a distance. The last few days, he's a different man. Watching him so carefree at his birthday. That was one of the greatest joys his mother and I have ever experienced."

"You're right Carrick. It's hard to forget what happened, and my forgiveness was only halfhearted. My trust has been broken and it's something I don't give easily. Being a former undercover agent, it's natural to suspect everyone's motives. I let my guard down, and it's going to take a lot for me to do it again. However, we can work on it. Maybe you and I need to spend some time together getting to know one another." I sit at the small table in the cafeteria and look at the man across from me. I swear Carrick has aged ten years tonight.

"I would like that Ana. I know you're going to be a wonderful daughter. I won't deny seeing the love in his eyes when he looks at you. That's where you're headed, and I don't want to be a bump in that road for you. When it happens I don't want to take away from the joy." I study the man who will likely be my father-in-law someday and take a harder look at him.

"Does that mean you won't demand a prenup the minute you hear we're engaged?" This is a question that has been in the back of my mind every time Christian speak of marriage and babies. Will his father corner me demanding a prenup.

"No, it would be pointless. I know Christian would deny the need for one, and I know you're not after the money. Anyone spending a sliver of time watching the two of you can see the true love you have for one another. I don't think there would ever be anything that could truly tear you two apart." For the first time since I met Carrick, I breathe a sigh of relief. Finally, he gets it. He sees that I love Christian for him and not his money.

I can only smile and nod at him. Sawyer is at our side soon indicating the doctors are ready to talk to us. Arriving back in the waiting room I'm greeted by the sight of our family and two people in scrubs whispering to Grace.

"How is he?" I don't wait for introductions I just immediately ask about Christian's condition.

"Anastasia Steele?" The man on Grace's right ask me and I can only nod my head yes. "Christian is stable for now. When he came in, he was bleeding from a wound on the top of his shoulder next to the juncture of his neck. He was lucky it didn't sever any major arteries. We extracted a four by two-inch piece of glass from the wound. Once that was stitched up we were able to assess him a little better. Christian suffered from some severe head trauma. That's what we needed to rush him to surgery for. We had to relieve the pressure from the swelling of his brain. He was fortunate not to suffer a brain bleed, so we're confident that it will only be a severe concussion at the moment. But that could change. We have him in a medically induced coma at the moment and we'll keep him that way for at least the next twelve hours while we monitor the swelling. His left shoulder had been dislocated as well. While he was in surgery, the orthopedic surgeon came in and popped it back in place. She was worried about some pressure on a nerve, but the last scan showed it was fine. He'll need to wear a sling to stabilize the joint for at least a week."

"So, in twelve hours he'll wake up?" I want to see his stormy grey eyes boring into mine more than anything at this moment.

"No, in twelve hours if the swelling has gone down significantly and his blood pressure has remained stable, we will start to decrease the dosage of the drugs keeping him asleep. It will take several hours to rouse him once they are stopped. I wouldn't expect to see him awake before tomorrow afternoon." The second doctor fidgets a moment and I can tell she wants to speak up. She's a small thing and she keeps looking to the side at Grace and Carrick.

Deciding to address her, I turn my body toward her, now standing at my full height. "Did you have something to add?" The doctor looks at the one that had been addressing us and he's shaking his head no at her, but I can see her resolve tighten. She grabs the sides of her top and stands tall as she addresses me.

"Yes, you're Anastasia Steele, correct?" I nod my head in the affirmative once again and then she continues. "We need you to sign and fill out some forms. You weren't here when Mr. Grey was brought in, so we proceeded to treat him, but now we need your written consent to continue to do so." I'm confused. Doesn't that need to be his mother or father.

"I told you not to bring that up. Dr. Trevelyan is his mother." The man addresses his colleague through clenched teeth. Grace turns to the woman and ask what we are all wondering.

"What are you talking about Jane? His father or I can sign those papers for you." Carrick starts to stalk toward the door, I assume to track down the paperwork, but the woman, Jane stops him.

"Actually, Mr. Taylor informed us upon Mr. Grey's arrival, that a medical power of attorney was signed and filed with the hospital at the beginning of the month. Only Miss Steele can do any of that." I'm shocked and I don't even bother to try and hide the disbelieve from my face. When we started talking long term, it never crossed my mind that he would go to these extremes. My father is still my next of kin listed for myself.

"Oh." It's all Grace can say and Carrick turns from the door and comes to my side.

"Come on Ana, lets get this done and then you can see him." I watch him turn to everyone else in the room, it's nearing midnight. Brooklynne is asleep in Elliot's lap, Mia and Kate have been holding hands in chairs next to each other, and Dad is standing with Taylor and Sawyer. "I assume my son is in ICU. We want to see him for a moment and then I think everyone needs to go home and get some sleep until tomorrow."

Soon everyone starts to leave the room. I assume they're all headed over to see him before they leave. Carrick is quick to help me with the paperwork and even gives me a hug as I sign the last paper. "He loves you." It's all he says as he keeps an arm around my shoulder and steers me to the ICU.

* * *

Grace's POV

My son is safe. That should be my only thought right now, but I can't get over the fact that my son changed his next of kin and filed a medical power of attorney. I wonder why he felt the need to do so. We wouldn't have shut Ana out if anything happened to him. It makes no sense. Carrick though, his reaction shocked me. I expected him to be angry, but he was supportive and helped Ana with all the paperwork.

Something has happened with them, and I can only hope it means good things for the future with them. Everyone has left except Ana, Carrick and I. We've been waiting two hours, watching the monitors, listening to the steady beep of the machines attached to Christian. I've read his charts. His surgery was much more complicated then they made it out to be. The piece of glass that was imbedded in him, tore a small piece of muscle. Hopefully it will heal without the need for therapy. His left knee is also swollen. There is some deep bruising and they suspect there might be a hairline fracture but can't say for sure just yet. They'll have to wait for the swelling to go down and do another x-ray.

"Cary, we need to go home. We can come back in the morning." He looks apprehensive to leave.

"I don't want her to be alone Grace. She was devastated tonight, and I don't want her alone if something happens." Oh my, he really has come around.

"Nothing will happen tonight. Let's go home and get some sleep. It's 2 am. We can be back at lunch and bring her some food. That's when they'll start weening him off the drugs okay." Carrick nods and soon we're saying our goodbyes.

Sawyer stops us in the hallway and promises to call us when they know something. I watch him as we leave, giving instructions so someone else to stand guard at the room while he takes a nap. Those men do so much for our families. I take one last look back and send up a silent prayer for Christian to heal quickly.

* * *

Ana's POV

A gentle hand to my shoulder jolts me awake and the events of the last twenty-four hours rush back over me. I look at my watch, 8:26 am. I hear my Dad's chuckle as he hands me a tall cup of coffee in a travel mug. "Gail sent that along with breakfast and a change of clothes." I take the cup and sip and feel the tiredness start to wash away.

I continue to hold Christian's hand, and once again take stock of his injuries for the twentieth time. They were far more extensive then what we were originally told, but I guess the brain swelling was the most pressing issue. They didn't feel the need to tell us that the glass was removed in surgery, not triage like originally thought, or that it cut deep into the tissue and tore a piece of muscle. They also failed to tell us anything about his heavily bandaged and swollen knee. There are little pieces of tape and stitches along his arm and a few on his face. A few of the cuts needed stitches, but most just needed bandaging. Once he's healed you won't know that there had been small pieces of glass there.

Ros and Gwen came by last night before they returned home. She has a cut above her eye from a piece of glass. She needed twelve stitches and was lucky it wasn't worse. Another half inch and she might have been blind in that eye. She was limping, refusing to ride in a wheelchair. Ros said the impact jarred her and she's got a bruise on her hip and bruising across her chest from the harnessing.

I just want them to come in and wake him up. I want to demand this crazy man never go anywhere without security again, although, they might have been useless in this situation. I'm so damn thankful for that tracker bracelet. When I came to his room last night, I asked Taylor where it was. They had cut Christian's clothes off of him and removed the bracelet, but it's all secured in a bag in the closet of his room now.

I'm going to demand this man marry me the minute he opens his eyes. That shit he pulled with the power of attorney last night. Yeah, I'm lucky that Carrick and Grace didn't contest it. Carrick was wonderful helping me with everything. While I could answer most of the questions, neither of us know of his biological family's medical history.

Dad talks to me a bit, but I think I'm too dazed to really pay attention to what he's saying. I sit and eat the food he brought, but it might as well have been cardboard. My phone won't stop ringing, and I've given it to Prescott to answer for me. She came into relieve Sawyer till this afternoon. The man was dragging his ass. He needed rest.

Doctors come and go and eventually they take him out of the room to scan his brain again to see where they are with the swelling. Gail shows up with food and urges me to eat. Dad has to leave for his interview with the Mayor. Grace and Carrick arrive just before Christian returns. They visit with me and talk about mundane things that I don't give two shits about right now. I want to know how Christian is.

Soon, the doctors return with him. The swelling is almost gone, better than they expected. They're going to decrease the meds, but it will be hours still before he wakes. Grace and Carrick wait with me for another hour before they decide to leave and take a break.

Ten minutes pass before the nurse comes back and tells me that she's stepping down the dosage once more and in an hour they will stop the drugs completely. He could wake before dinner. Hope springs inside and I wonder if I can get a justice of the peace and a marriage license secured even though he's in a coma.

Just as I start to think about how silly that is and really start to imagine what our wedding could be like, Noah arrives.

"Hey itty bitty. How's he doing?" I think Noah is the only one I've ever allowed to reference my size in such a way and not be violently attacked. As he's pointed out before though, he's not calling me little.

"They're going to stop the drugs in a hour and then we just have to wait for him to wake up." I'm sure that Andrea has informed him of everything so far. Or at least I hope so, because I don't desire trying to go through it all again.

"He's going to be pissed when he wakes up you know." I look at Noah perplexed and wonder why. "First thing, he's going to look at you and be mad you're obviously not taking care of yourself. Seriously Ana, have you brushed your hair today?"

I shake my head in the negative and know what he means. Christian won't care about himself once he sees me. He's got to be the protector and provider for everyone else first. "I guess I need a shower, but I don't want to leave him alone." I look at the bathroom and back to Christian. I've hardly moved from this chair, I've done everything one handed today, never letting go except when they took him out for his scan.

"I'll stay with him. You've got an hour before they stop the drugs. That gives you plenty of time to get yourself together. He's going to need to focus on himself, because once he realizes his beloved helicopter is a totaled mess, he's going to go thermonuclear." He's right too. Christian loves that helicopter. But I need to make sure he focuses on himself.

I leave Noah to it and take my time to make sure I'm scrubbed and smelling like something other than disinfectant. I comb my hair out and braid it back, not wanting to really mess with it since I don't have a hair dryer. Once I'm dressed in the jeans and lightweight sweater Gail packed, I exit the bathroom. Noah's quick to vacate my chair and my hand is immediately clasping Christian's once again.

We sit and chat for a while. I hear my phone ring, and once again, Prescott fields the call for me. "Your phone been like that all day?" Noah asks jerking his head toward Prescott, who's sitting dutifully in a chair beside the door.

"Yeah, I couldn't keep up with it anymore. GEH has called I don't know how many times. Ros stayed home today, but is in contact with the PR department, but they keep calling me. I've been called about a dozen security issues, but Griffin is at the office to handle them. Andrea's called a couple times, but only for updates like the rest of the family. I finally tossed her the phone and promised her a new pair of Manolo Blahniks if she took care of it for me."

Noah chuckles and proceeds to tell me what a hassle it was leaving Escala this morning. A few of the kids at the center asked about Christian, but he told them he was fine and we had to wait and see what the doctors say. I don't know how long we sit and talk before the nurse comes into the take the empty iv bag and replace it with something else.

"What is that?" I can't read the bag from this side of the bed.

"It's just saline. We don't want him to get dehydrated. I'm going to give him a shot though that will help bring him around faster. He should start showing signs of waking in an hour or so." I watch her push a needle into the iv line and send the medicine through. My nervousness from last night starts in as I sit straighter in the chair. What if he doesn't wake up?

"Don't." Noah is next to me with a hand on my shoulder. I look up at him and he just shakes his head at me. "Don't even think it. He'll wake up and he's going to be so happy to see you and then he'll forget all about what happened on Monday. Hopefully he'll forget about Charlie Tango too. I feel bad for the poor man that feels the brunt of his ire on that one." I smile because I know he's right.

Christian and I both messed up on Monday. I should have taken our relationship and his probable reactions into account, but at the same time, Christian needs to remember to let me do my job, otherwise I won't be able to stay at GEH. I shake my head as I continue to ponder these dilemmas. Noah soon takes his leave to return to the center before the next round of kids show up after school.

I didn't pay attention to how much time has passed until I start to hear noises coming from Christian. I squeeze his hand and he squeezes mine back. The monitor next to the bed starts to beep and the nurse rushes in. "Looks like Mr. Grey is about ready to wake up. I'm going to call the doctor and the respiratory tech. He's going to want that tube out of this throat the minute his eyes open. Stay with him. He's going to be disoriented and need a calming force." She silences the beeping machine and leaves the room.

I stand, still clasping Christian's hand. "Christian, baby. I need you to wake up. My sweet Knight in grey armor. I need to see your beautiful eyes." I place chaste kisses to each of his closed eyelids as I brush his hair from his face. His stubble has grown thick the last few days, he's sporting a full beard now. If he wasn't in a hospital bed, I'd say it was hot.

His moaning increases as the nurse and doctors return. They stand in a corner and I soon see Taylor enter. I haven't seen him all morning. The doctor steps to the other side of the bed and pushes something into his iv once more. I can hear him whispering to the nurse, who is making notes in his chart. It's only a moment before I watch his eyes start to blink open. Soon they're wide and wild looking. "Christian, it's me. Stay calm and the doctors will take care of everything. I'm right here." I step back but his grip on my hand tightens.

The doctors talk to him, shining a light in his eyes and asking him to follow their fingers. Soon he's coughing and the tube is being removed from his throat. The nurse is quick to offer him a drink of water but he brushes her off as he pulls on my arm and secures his hand around my neck kissing me.

* * *

Christian's POV

I don't know where I am, nor do I care. Ana's next to me and I'm never letting go. As soon as the damn tube was out of my throat I was pulling her in and kissing her. She makes it quick and pulls back and forces the water to my lips. Once my throat doesn't feel so cotton covered, I ask what happened.

Ana is choked up and sits on the bed next to my right side and buries her head in my chest. Taylor steps up explaining what happened and how they found me. I'm so thankful I went back to my office for the tracker bracelet. I'm going to have one implanted in every watch I own. Same goes for Ana. We're never going anywhere without one again. Hell, I bet Griffin can even hide them in her shoes. Hearing about my injuries and the fact that I've been in a coma for over twelves hours is disheartening. The doctor says I'm not leaving for at least another twenty-four hours. I wonder how much money I need to donate to get released sooner. The longer I'm here the longer I have to put my plans on hold. We're supposed to be in Aspen tomorrow night. I'll talk to Taylor about that privately later.

I send him out to contact the family and tell them they can come up in a few hours. Right now I need to be alone with my princess. The minute the door closes behind everyone she's crying and apologizing.

I can't listen to her apologize, none of this was her fault. "Hey, listen, it wasn't your fault. You don't need to apologize. Taylor will figure out what happened. I'm just glad I'm here." She tries to calm down and I can tell this really tore her up. I can't say that I wouldn't be a mess as well if it were her laying in this hospital bed though.

"I was so worried Christian. When Taylor wouldn't let me leave to help look for you last night." She pauses and takes a deep breath brushing away a fresh track of tears from her cheek. "I understood how you felt Monday. I'm so damn sorry, baby. We'll figure this out. I'll talk to Taylor and we'll work together. Nothing like this will ever happen again." I listen to her promises, and I don't know if she's talking about the crash, or the way we were forced apart. Suddenly I feel the need to ask her a question. I can't wait any longer.

"Snow White, do you know where my clothes are?"

"Yeah, they're in the closet over there." She points to the corner of the room near the bathroom.

"Can you get in there and get my jacket. There's something that I need from there." She eyes me curiously, but leaves me to do what I've asked of her. Soon she's dropping the jacket in my lap and as gingerly as I can I snake my hand into the breast pocket and breath a sigh of relief that the pouch is still there. I pull it out, and tell her she can have the jacket back. Ana eyes me curiously, but she returns the torn and cut up piece of offending cloth to the closet. By the time she's back I've managed to pull the ring from the velvet bag.

"Come here. Sit next to me." I tap the bed next me with my closed fist.

"What's the matter Christian?" She's arching an eyebrow at me and titling her head as she eyes me with more and more interest.

"When I realized what was going to happen, I could only think of one thing. You." I take a deep breath and try to calm my racing heart. I don't need a nurse coming in here interrupting us thinking I'm having a heart attack. "I can't continue without knowing something."

"Christian what is it? What's wrong?" She looks worried now and I can't help the small smile that spreads across my face.

"I hadn't planned to do it this way, but I can't wait any longer. I had a whole bunch of pretty words to say planned, but I think shirt and sweet will be better right now. I love you so damn much Ana, will you marry me?" I hold the ring up to her and I can see the stunned expression on her face. She looks down at the ring, then back at me again. The tears are trailing down her cheeks now and I'm starting to get worried. I watch as Ana takes the ring and holds in her hand.

"How?" I think she recognizes it and I let out a breath as she slips it on her finger. It's a perfect fit.

"Your dad gave it to me. Does this mean you'll be my wife? Can I start calling you Mrs. Grey now?" She smiles, and still the tears fall as she vigorously nods her head yes.

She cups my cheeks with both of her hands as she leans in to kiss me. She stops an inch from my lips and stares into my eyes. "I love you Mr. Grey. I can't wait to be your wife." With that she plants the mother of all kisses on me. There is no tongue necessary for the moment. I still feel all the passion and love she has for me in that one firm, life altering kiss.

I close my eyes and do my best with my injuries to pull her closer. She said yes. She's going to be my wife. Best day of my life.

* * *

 **A/N: This was meant to be posted about 7 hours ago, but the winds here have been near tornado strength. Half way though the editing of this chapter, I got a call about some damage at my mother's house and had to race over there. I was expecting some shingles and tree limbs in the yard and had a near heart attack when I saw an entire tree blocking her driveway and fire trucks blocking the road. She was fortunate that when the tree fell, it didn't hit her truck. However, it pulled down her power lines which were creating a charge on her chain link fence. My mother and I were trapped on opposite sides of the fence till the power company showed up to repair it. We've had moments in our lives where I've needed to cling to my mother. Today would have been fine, but seeing the fire truck that I wasn't expecting and then being told I could get closer than five feet from my mother was killer on me. The moment I could I was hugging her. I know she wasn't hurt, but she's a widow and was upset about the damage and I couldn't comfort her the inky way I knew how. So I spent my evening trying to keep my nephew entertained and edit this in my phone. I seriously expect to need to fix this again later, but at least I met my ten days that I promised.**


	18. Chapter 17

**A/N: One year ago today, I posted the first Chapter of A Steele Love. Never did I imagine that the story that had been brewing in my head, would turn out to be a life changing project. I was on bed rest, stuck with health issues I didn't understand yet. I was bored. I had started reading fanfiction only a couple months before. I had an idea. I thought why not? It's not like I'm getting paid to do it, I'm not publishing. I was flabbergasted by the reception my Ana and Christian received. A few months later, I enter a one shot challenged, and I imagined a new Christian. From there it went on and on. Now I'm here a year later, and you're still with me. I've had ups and downs, with both my writing and my health. There was a period in the fall that prevented me from even reading. I've reached a block on a story that I've since deleted from FFN after a litany of derogatory and discouraging guests reviews. Monday, I will start my first Camp NaNoWriMo journey. It's a new project that will be written as a wholly original story. I'll be posting it to FFN sometime in the middle of the month, with Ana and Christian as the central characters. However once it's fully posted, it will only remain posted for a limited number of days before it is pulled.** ** _Falling Undercover_** **will be posted as an original novel on Amazon.**

 **From the time I was a freshman in high school, I had two dreams for when I grew up. I entertained other career options, I was even heavily recruited for a linguistics position with the Army and the Navy. However, a friend and I had made a pact our freshman year. We were either going to grow up and be the next Ally McBeals, without the dancing babies, or we were going to go to an ivy league school, get our Ph.D.s and be English professors who wrote the next bestseller in our spare time. Logistics and the cost of tuition limited my options upon my graduation, then my husband and I fell and love and I became a military wife. My life consisted of supporting him and raising our children.**

 **Last year when the onset of my health issues started, he left active service. Our life has needed an adjustment period. I still have hopes and dreams, they're just different now. I'm not disillusioned to think I'm going to be the next Nora Roberts, or James Patterson. But maybe I can make a contribution. Maybe someone would buy a book or a kindle version with my pen name on it. I have a goal and I intend to spend the next month striving to achieve my goal. The fact that you have all stuck with me this long is encouraging. I hope you continue following along on my journey with me.**

 **Thank you, each of you.**

 **I don't own FSoG, and all mistakes are my own. No Beta.**

 **Laters**

* * *

 **A Steele Love**

 **Chapter 17**

Ana's POV

"It's my grandmother's ring?" I can't stop staring at the ring on my hand. I knew he'd eventually ask me to marry him, hell I was prepared to ask him myself after this, but I didn't expect to see him holding my grandmother's ring.

"Your dad said that you loved this ring growing up." Christian hasn't let go of my hand, and I want more than anything to smother him with my love, but I can see that he's in pain. I move to get off the bed, but his grip tightens on my hand. "Don't move yet."

"I love you Christian, I'm not going anywhere. I'll be right here beside you. I'm going to press this button though and get a nurse in here with some pain meds for you." Christian looks like he's going to argue, but he gives a slight nod and I press the nurse call button on the side. We wait for her to come in and adjust his meds before we continue to talk.

"When do you want to tell everyone you agreed to marry me?" Christian looks tired, but I can hear the excitement in his voice.

"Hey, we don't have to do anything right now. You need to rest and heal. Besides, your family will flock here soon enough." I need him to rest. Every nightmare I've had since meeting Christian was nearly realized this week. I need him strong and healthy.

"I'm fine Anastasia, but if my family is on the way, someone is going to see that ring and they'll start planning our wedding without us if we don't stop them and tell them what we want." Christian's head is resting on his pillow and his grey eyes are the brightest I've ever seen them.

"How about we elope next weekend. Think we can get to Vegas and back without anyone knowing?" I'm serious about the elopement. I don't need the pomp and circumstance that comes with a wedding. I just need him.

"Our families would kill us. Do you want to tell your father that I married you without giving him the opportunity to walk you down the aisle? And you know my mother has half the guest list already written, plus Mia. Mia will be mad she didn't get to argue with you about floral arrangements and DJ versus a live band." He's right about Mia. She would be very upset she didn't get to help plan anything, which reminds me. I need to talk to Mia about something this weekend.

"Your mother is going to be severely disappointed. I'll settle for a small and intimate wedding. If we don't both know the guest, or we aren't related, no invitation. I don't want to turn what should be the happiest day in our lives into a business deal or the social event of the year. I let your mom have some reign over the party list for your birthday, mainly because I didn't know what it was like in years passed. Our wedding though, we get complete and final say so." Already I'm going over the original list I received for Christian's birthday. It held 120 names the first time she gave it to me. When I said no, she returned with eighty. I cut it down to fifty and that list included each member of our family. I'll cut it even more for the wedding. "Family and close friends like Kate and Noah. That's it. Fifty people max, and that includes the wedding party."

"How does a destination wedding sound? We can get married somewhere quiet and away from the media circus." He's right. The minute the media finds out that we're engaged, we'll be bombarded with questions. Cameras in our faces. Every time we're seen near a bakery or a dress shop, they'll speculate on the wedding details. People will sell us out on our wedding date. I don't want to marry in Seattle.

"A destination wedding sounds amazing. Is your place in Aspen well known? I ask because, maybe we could find a venue there. We could control everything more there." I'm not sure at this point if we'll be going to Aspen this weekend or not, but if we are, we can nail down some details while we're there.

"When you see the place this weekend, you'll be inspired. The house has plenty of space for us to have a ceremony and reception. Mrs. Beasley, the live-in house keeper, she can help you with all of it." I'm trying to picture it, but until I see the place it will be hard to do.

"SIP adjusted my press tour schedule for me. I have to be in New York on September 29th, it's a Friday. The last day is Thursday, October 12th. I've demanded a full day in Seattle at some point in there with no commitments. I was hoping that you could be with me." I don't want to be separated from him for even a minute. I know I'm being super clingy, and I know that I'm being this way because of the crash, but I don't give a shit.

"What if we got married the week before you had to be in New York? We could take a week-long honeymoon and then fly to New York. I can get Ros to cover GEH for the month for the most part. I can remotely while you're fulfilling your commitments. Then when it's over, we'll fly to a private island somewhere. Some place our phones don't work, and I can spend another week buried inside of you." I try my best to stifle my groan, because that sounds like heaven. The last time Christian and I were together was after the birthday party on Sunday.

"Don't talk about honeymoon activities Christian. It's been days. You ever ignore or avoid me like that again, I'm going to storm your office and angry fuck you. I'll make sure I'm satisfied but leave you with the biggest blue balls ever. Do you understand me?" I'm dead serious. I don't like the lack of connection we had. I can deal with him being angry. I fully expect that his control freak tendencies will cause us to butt heads and yell at each other. But to not even talk to me or ignore me in bed. Never again.

"I'll do better next time we fight. I'm sorry, really, I am. I don't know how to handle this though. No matter what, I'm not going to be happy with the protocol you placed. Especially now. You'll be my wife and I'll be damned if I'm going to leave you behind." I start to rebut but shut my mouth. He's right. I hated Taylor leaving me behind yesterday. I know my frantic nature would have been a hinderance, but I needed to get to Christian as soon as possible. As much training as I've had, as many times as I've had to keep calm in a crisis, I was anything but calm thinking of all the things that could have happened.

"We'll do better." Before I can say anything else, there is a knock at the door. Soon Grace and Carrick are entering the room and fussing over their son. I attempt to let go of Christian's hand and pull back so that his mother can sit with him on his good side.

"Ana, how are you?" I turn to Carrick, surprised at his question. Grace moves quickly to her son's other side, ignoring me entirely. I guess she's still upset about the power of attorney.

"I'm good Carrick. Happy that Christian is awake and no worse for wear." I try to disengage from Christian's hand to give him a moment with his parents, but he won't release his grip. I turn to him and his eyes are piercing and questioning. "I'm going to give you a moment alone."

"No, stay." It's all he says, and I try and see what it is he's not telling me. I lift my eyes to Grace and her lips are pressed in a thin line. Christian squeezes the hand he's holding, my left hand, and remember the ring there. As of right now, no one can see it. If I move away there is a chance they'll see it before we want to tell anyone.

"Okay." Carrick moves next to me and pats my shoulder. I look at him and I can see nothing more than genuine love and affection as he looks at his son in the hospital bed.

"Son, you gave us a scare. That bracelet of Ana's is genius. Your mother and I talked to a doctor before we came in here. He said that you should be able to go home tomorrow afternoon." Carrick's smile is infectious, and I can't help but feel the same joy at Christian being found alive and well.

"Sorry dad. I don't know what happened. One minute we were fine. I wanted to show Ros the view of Mt. Rainier. We were approaching a clearing at the base of the mountain when one of the engines caught fire. We lost control of our comms. I tried to radio the tower, but it was useless. The suppression system put the fire out quickly and we were headed back to SeaTac. As we moved back over the forest, the second engine caught fire. It didn't take long before all of our electronics started to fail. I tried to steer back toward the clearing to land, but we didn't quite make it." Christian looks defeated. I know Taylor thinks it was sabotage and I'm sure he's going to change Charlie Tango protocol after this.

"Someone said it was likely tampered with. I thought you had the best security." Grace's comment is snide, and I can see a bit of a sneer there. What the hell? Was that a jab at me?

"There is top notch security at the hanger where we store Charlie Tango. I realize now though, that my desire to fly without security is what put us at risk. There was no one with Charlie Tango while I was at my meetings. My security detail was with me. The building where we landed and took off from should have been secure, but it's not a GEH owned building." Now I see why Taylor and Reynolds have been so hard on themselves. I wonder how quickly they'll be buying a building with a helipad in Portland and securing it, so we don't have anything to fear in the future.

"Ana, isn't this your job? Weren't you supposed to find the holes in their security and secure them?" Grace looks pissed and heartbroken. Her stare is challenging, and I understand why she's asking me this, but I can't help but get my hackles up. Before I can respond, Christian is quick to defend me.

"Actually, this was a matter of personal security. That fell to Taylor, not Ana. She controls security for my businesses. Taylor handles the personal security. He did everything right. Someone out there found a soft spot and exploited it. I'm sure of it. This is no one's fault except the person that messed with my helicopter." Christian is firm, and his voice is authoritative.

"Well no matter. You need to rest. I've already talked to your brother and sister and told them to stay away for the night. They will see you at home tomorrow. I'll be here to pick you up at noon. Gretchen is already preparing your room." Grace is patting his thigh and I watch her reach up to brush a piece of his hair from his face but Christian whips his head away looking at her like she's an alien.

"Um, Mom, I'm going to Aspen tomorrow afternoon still. I've been told I'll need to rest and I can do that better there without the media hounding us. If the doc says I can't fly I'm going to my home with Ana." Grace's eyes narrow into slits.

"You are going to need assistance getting around the first few days with your knee. You have wounds that will need tending to. I can do that better for you at our home. Ana is welcome to come with you if you insist." This can't all be because he switched his power of attorney. She must know even if I'd have known beforehand, I would have never withheld information from her or kept her away from her son.

"You can all assist me in Aspen. If not, you can come home with us. As for changing my bandages, Ana can help me with that as well. You don't need to be a doctor to apply antibiotic ointment and gauze. Now tell me what has gotten into you." Christian is bellowing at his mother now and I can't help but feel like this is my fault. I'm watching Christian's face and I can see the discomfort there. He pulls his hand from my grasp and pinches the bridge of his nose as he leans his head back staring at the ceiling. I watch as he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. When he's calm, Christian lifts his head again and looks first at his father and me, then his mother. Reaching for his hand once more, I squeeze it reassuringly.

"I'm your mother Christian and a doctor. I think I know what is best for you. I'm not trying to separate you from your girlfriend…"

"Fiancé." Christian looks back at me and I can see he's sorry for not holding it in until we were with the entire family, but I can see the exasperation on his face. "She's my fiancé. We're getting married."

"Congratulations son, Ana." Carrick's genuine smile warms me and while we aren't fully there yet, he and I are moving toward a slight fondness with each other. I can't say I have completely forgiven him, and I know I don't trust him fully, but we're getting there.

"Christian, why did you change the POA?" Grace's voice is meek and defeated sounding. I see the tears that have pooled in her eyes, start to travel down her cheeks.

"It was something one of my contacts said in a meeting last month. He had started a relationship with a woman five years prior. Her husband had been in a car accident and was in an assisted living facility. The man was a quadriplegic and catatonic. He was breathing on his own and posed no other health issues. Apparently after three years, her children convinced her to start living her life once again and try to date. So, she did. She refused to divorce him though. Her insurance paid for his care, and she still loved him. But she fell in love after a year with the man I was buying a company from. He'd decided to sell after he'd had a massive heart attack and mild stroke. When he'd been in the hospital, his estranged daughter showed up and refused to let the woman near her father. When he finally awoke and was aware, he had to find a lawyer to help him. Because they couldn't get married, he had to utilize power of attorneys. I just didn't know how long it would take for Ana and me to get married, and I didn't want to take the chance that she would be shut out. I'm not sorry I did it, but I am sorry I didn't talk to any of you beforehand." Once again Christian takes a deep breath and closes his eyes.

"I understand son." Grace leaves it at that, and so do Carrick and I. After asking they keep the engagement quiet until we tell the rest of the family, they promise to act surprised and leave us to the rest of our night.

* * *

Christian's POV

"Sir, I'm sorry to wake you, but we should discuss the plans for today and the rest of the weekend." I'm momentarily disoriented. Taylor is standing just inside the door of my hospital room and the sun is shining through the window blinds. I feel groggy. Looking around I see that Ana is still curled up in the chair next to me with her head resting on the bed next to me, her left hand clenched in mine still.

"Well come in and send someone for some juice or coffee." I try to sit up, but it's more difficult than I thought it would be with my arm in a sling and Ana resting next to me.

"Gail is in the hallway waiting to bring in breakfast and clean clothes for you and Ana." As he finishes talking Ana stirs and lifts her head from the bed.

"What time is it?"

Looking at the clock above the door, I note the time for her. "9:15 Snow White." Still holding her hand, I look at Taylor. "Well don't just stand there, send your wife in. I'm sure she's brought something good for us." Hopefully its hearty. I didn't eat last night before succumbing to the meds. That means it's been nearly 48 hours since I've had food. Suddenly, my hunger seems ravenous. The growling of my stomach echoes throughout the room. Ana's giggle is music to my ears.

"I'm going to use the restroom and then I'll be out." Ana kisses my cheek before leaving my side. While she's busy, Taylor and I discuss our exit strategy for when I'm discharged. Gail is here setting up breakfast on the rolling tray beside the bed.

Ana's reemergence from the restroom is apparent when a sigh escapes her lips. "Bless you Gail." Ana is staring at the spread that has been delivered. Coffee, juice, egg white omelets, bacon, and a large stack of fluffy pancakes for each of us. Gail stays with us, promising to take our dirty clothes with us after Ana showers when we're done eating.

As everyone makes small talk around me I think about my parents' visit last night. I expected my father to be the unreasonable one over the power of attorney. I expected him to rebuke Ana's position in my life, not my mother. Listening to mom try and talk like the crash was Ana's fault threw me. Grace Grey is usually completely level headed. She's the calm and collected one in the family. I've never seen her act that way, especially toward Ana. My mother usually looks at Ana like she could part the Red Sea.

Soon Gail and Taylor leave to let me rest a bit while Ana showers. I tried closing my eyes and falling back asleep, but the room door opening again has me snapping back to attention.

"I'm sorry to bother you Mr. Grey, I just need to take your vitals and record them." The nurse moves around the bed adjusting monitors and tapping on her tablet. I keep watch over the clock waiting for Ana to come out of the shower, paying her no attention. Soon, I realize what a mistake that was when I feel her pulling the sheet down the bed and off of me.

"What the hell are you doing?" I stare at the little woman next to the bed. She's closer to five feet and probably about ten pounds overweight. Her dull blonde hair is pulled back in a severe bun and she looks like she applied her makeup in a hurry before her shift.

"You need a bath Mr. Grey. Because of your knee at the moment, you're unable to use the regular shower, so I have to give you a sponge bath." No fucking way is this woman touching me to bathe me. Where the hell is security? Ana needs to come out of the shower right about now.

"I can shower when I get home, or my girlfriend can help me. I don't like to be touched. Now give me back that blanket." I'm trying to lean forward and grab the sheet myself. I know I've been at the hospital all this time, and that I've been in a hospital gown, but damn it, I feel exposed. This woman has the audacity to lick her lips and look me up and down and like I was the next steak on her dinner table.

"Sir, hospital policy states I must do it." She moves closer to me and I finally see the side table she has set up. It looks like the basin there is empty. I wonder exactly who was at the door that let her in.

"You're not touching me anymore. I don't like to be touched, and I'm not about to start making exceptions for you." I'm reaching for the call button on the side of the bed as the woman reaches for my shoulder. I grab her wrist instead, intent on stopping her. "I said you're not going to touch me. Unless you want a lawsuit against you personally, you'll leave right now."

"Mr. Grey, I don't think that you understand. I need to clean and dress your wounds and clean you up before your discharge." The woman has been standing near my left, the shoulder that was dislocated and is currently immobilized in a sling. That means that I'm holding her wrist with my one good hand but reaching across my chest to grab her is putting strain on the stitches at my collarbone. If I let go of her hand to press the call button, she'll have two hands to touch me with. Damn Ana get your ass out of here. "Mr. Grey this will be quick and near pain free if you would just cooperate and stay still."

Nurse Ratchet is lifting her other hand to pull at the shoulder of my hospital gown when Ana steps out of the bathroom rubbing her hair with a towel. Immediately I let go of the nurse's hand and press the button on the side rail of the bed. "Ana." I know my voice sounds weak and pleading, but I need my fiancé to take care of this woman for me.

Immediately, Ana's head snaps up and her eyes zero in on the nurse. "What's going on?"

The nurse next to me, who I can't seem to read the badge of because she has it turned around, stands a little straighter and once again tries to reach for my shoulder. "I'm trying to get Mr. Grey here to cooperate and let me change his bandages and clean him up a bit, but he refuses to let me touch him."

"That's because he doesn't like to be touched by people he doesn't know. Step back. His mother is doctor and she or I can take of his bandages." Ana looks around the room and sees the same wash station the nurse was trying to set up. Her eyes become predatory even as she steps around the bed, dropping her wet towel across my exposed legs. "If he desires to be washed before he's discharged, I will do it. Now leave before I call a supervisor."

By now, Ana is standing between me and the nurse, forcing the nurse to take two steps back. She's stupid to think that she can stare down the woman I fell in love with. Before either woman can say anything again, Taylor enters the room with another nurse behind him. "You press the call button sir?"

"Damn right I did. This woman here is insistent on changing my bandages and giving me a sponge bath. I've been trying to keep her hands off of me for a good ten minutes." Taylor narrows his eyes and he moves to the wash station. The nurse that was with him steps toward the foot of the bed.

"Mr. Grey, sir, I apologize. Your mother and girlfriend both informed us of your desire to not be touched outside of sedation. We kept the monitors connected to you the way we did so that we could monitor your vitals remotely and not need to touch you. As for your bandages and the bath, well, you're not going to need your bandages changed until you do require a bath sometime today, but I would suggest waiting to do it before your bedtime tonight. The bandages will only need to be changed once a day. The less exposure they receive, the less chance of infection. Did Ms. Brown ask you if you required cleaning?" Aww, so the nurse has a name.

"No, she did not. She just started pulling at the covers and trying to undress me." I'm watching Taylor and Ana both. Ana hasn't moved from her protective stance between me and nurse ratchet and Taylor is paying a whole lot of attention to something on the cart with the wash basin.

"Mrs. Ortega, can I ask, what is the hospital's policy on cell phones while on shift?" Taylor has turned back around and is now holding a phone and looking deadly at the nurses. The one next to Ana takes another two steps away.

"We're actually required to leave them in our lockers. We carry phones around in our pockets to call around the hospital while on shift." Mrs. Ortega lifts what looks like a wireless handset from her pocket to show Taylor what the hospital uses. "These let us call departments directly, and each nurse and doctor have their own extension so that we can call one another directly if needed. We can also page the doctors with an emergency and the press of the star key behind their extension number."

"So, this phone that was pointing at Mr. Grey's bed, with it's camera recording a video of his exchange with the nurse is against hospital policy?" Shit what the….

"Are you shitting me? What the fuck?" Ana explodes next to me. She starts to stalk toward the nurse and I think she'd be pinning her to the wall if I let go of her hand.

"Mr. Grey, I don't know what to say to this. I'm going to need to call my supervisor and security." Nurse Ortega, who I thought was a supervisor, leaves the room and Nurse Brown tries to follow her, only to be stopped by Taylor blocking the door.

"You can stay right there. We need to talk about the other items I found on your phone." With that, Taylor forces her to sit down in a chair. Ana turns to me with a look I can't quite decipher. It's concerned and there is a blaze in her eyes. When she brings her hand up to brush the hair out of my eyes, I see the passion burning. She's angry at the nurse and spoiling for a fight. Under normal circumstances, I'd take her hard and fast to burn off the energy, but it's not going to happen right now.

"Can you help me pull the covers back up and get your wet towel off of me?" I try to go for levity, and thankfully it works. Ana leans her forehead against mine, eyes closed and takes a deep breath. Before she can pull away, I snake my right hand behind her head and hold her to me so that I can press a kiss to her lips. When she opens her eyes she's all smiles.

Ana moves around the bed, removing the towel and adjusting the sheet and blanket. Taylor is still looking through the woman's phone and is on his phone talking to someone. I'm trying to pay attention to what he's saying, but Ana is to close and smells too good. Before long, Sawyer enters with the other nurse once again and a man in a suit, I'm sure an administrator at the hospital as well as the doctor I saw last night.

"Mr. Grey, I'm so sorry for what has happened this morning. I'm Matt Gibson. I'm the administrator over the nursing staff. I assure you that the actions of Nurse Brown are in direct violation of our hospital's policy and she will be reprimanded for them." He stands tall at the foot of the bed. A man in his early forties I would guess, with salt and pepper hair and small wire framed glasses perched at the end of his nose.

"How about you fire her, and Mr. Grey doesn't sue the hospital for violating his privacy." Taylor steps around the man and hands me his phone.

I put the phone to my ear and the voice on the other end helps settle me a little more, hearing that she's alright after the crash. "Christian, you can't just give me a warning before you do something?"

"What are you talking about Ros?"

"Well it seems your little nurse there wanted to make some money. A lot of it actually. Taylor found a few emails on her phone. One included a picture of you and Ana asleep last night. Another is a close up of her ring. Then she got a $5,000 payday for telling the Nooz what doors you would exit through when you were discharged at noon." I narrow my eyes at the woman and I'm furious. I just know the monitors to my left will start going off as soon as I feel my blood pressure start to rise.

"Call the lawyers. I want to stop whatever we can and get the Nooz to pull it all."

"Lucky for you, they haven't posted anything yet. I'm getting Sanchez on it and warning the Nooz that if they print anything, you'll own the company and dismantle it within a week."

"Ros, I always knew there was a reason I keep you around." I can't help the laugh and I nod to Taylor. He can release the girl to the hospital security.

"No one else, outside of Ana, would put up with your ass. I'll let you go. Call me when you make it home and we'll discuss press releases." She doesn't even wait for me to respond before she's hanging up.

"Taylor, keep her phone. Any chance that nothing has been uploaded to the cloud?"

"I'm taking care of it. We're going to need to leave immediately though. The press is already starting to show up. They're planted outside the main doors and the maternity ward doors." Taylor steps aside when we hear a knock at the door and the hospital security steps in to escort the nurse out.

Soon Taylor is discussing exit strategies with my doctor and when I can leave. Because of paperwork and the detectives coming in, we're stuck here until noon. Eventually the room clears out and Ana helps me to dress in the sweats Gail brought. My knee's swelling has gone down tremendously. The doctor said I would need to come back in next week when we return from Aspen to get another x-ray to verify it didn't break. At least we can still go to Aspen. I'll be using a cane, and relegated to the couch and bed, but we'll be with family and away form the media. Maybe I can get Ana into wedding planning mode now.

* * *

Ana's POV

I'm exhausted. It's been an hour since the nurse debacle. Taylor is securing our safe exit from the hospital and the detectives will be here soon to talk to Christian about the crash. I dread hearing the details, but I can't leave his side. Every time I need to go to the bathroom, I panic a little. I am not a clingy person, but damn it, I don't want to let him out of my site. I wasn't joking about eloping either. I know he thinks I was, that I just want to avoid the planning, but to hell with that. I'm impatient and near selfish enough to tell the family they can go screw themselves.

However, Christian was right, I would regret not having my father walk me down the aisle. His suggestion that we marry outside Seattle was genius. I'm hoping that I can get Mrs. Beasley to help me find a location while we are there this weekend. I'm going to need to be quick with the decisions. Grace, Mia, and Kate will all want to throw their two cents in.

Mia, there is someone who has surprised me. Andrea has been texting me off and on since the crash. Mia showed up at GEH yesterday and worked alongside Andrea not leaving until her shift was over and then she came here to wait for news of Christian waking. Once again, this morning she was back at work. Andrea said Mia told her she was working through lunch so that she could leave at 2 to meet with everyone at Escala before we leave for Aspen. Mia seems to have changed overnight. I wonder if she would be okay working with Hannah and me. I'll discuss it with Christian later before I ask Mia. I think she'd be perfect for maintaining my calendar, and when I start the tour, she's going to be perfect for styling me.

"Snow White, are we set on a date?" Christian pulls me back into our conversation.

"Yes, Friday September 22nd. A late afternoon wedding, where we'll serve dinner at the reception and fly out after dark to our honeymoon. You get complete control of the honeymoon. I've got three months to find a dress. We're going to get married somewhere in Aspen, fifty people max, and that includes the wedding party and families. We'll fly everyone in on Wednesday, put them all up in hotels and at your home. Now we need to talk about the wedding party." I'm sitting on the side of the bed, with one of my signature little yellow pads, writing things down so I don't forget.

"I want Elliot and Noah to stand up with me. Elliot will be the best man. He's never once failed me, even when I thought he didn't, he's always had my back." I know how close Christian and his brother have come in the last few months. It was rough for them after Elena got her hooks into them, but they've pulled through wonderfully.

"Sounds perfect. Kate is the only choice for maid of honor for me. I'll ask Mia to be a bridesmaid as well. Maybe it'll bring us closer together." I hope so. I think that and working together will do wonders for Mia's growth and our relationship.

"Your dad has to walk you down the aisle, none of that independent I can give myself away shit." He's right, I would normally try and buck the tradition, but I want to walk toward my husband on my father's arm.

"Wouldn't have it any other way. I think I'm going to give your mom reign over the rehearsal dinner the night before. Maybe that will appease her when I shove my details down her throat." Grace Grey can be every bit as intimidating as her youngest son when she wants something.

"We might need to let her throw an engagement party to sooth her after we show her the guest list." We have 38 names down, 38 names that include our own. If we find out we've left someone out, we can add them, but I don't think we did. I didn't even add my mother to the list.

"It might work, but I doubt it. We shall see." I go down the list that I copied from google. "Brooklynne will obviously be the flower girl. Do we really need a ring bearer?" I don't know any little boys.

"Nope, not necessary as I will hand the rings to Elliot anyway." He's all smiles talking all this out and its infectious. I smile as I move on down the list.

"We need two central colors. I want a light grey."

"I want blue to match your eyes." Christian's gaze is mesmerizing, and I give him s shy smile because I chose grey for the same reason.

"So pale blue and a silver grey. I don't want to wear white, so I'm thinking a cream or champagne color to even it all out." Now he's looking at me like I've grown two heads.

"You don't plan to wear white? Isn't that what brides where?"

"Actually, some brides where colored dresses. I however don't plan stray that far from tradition. I don't want to wear bright white though. Something soft, something that will look good next to my pale skin." I've always avoided all white. It makes me look washed out without a tan.

"Okay, what's next on that list you found?"

I hold my breath for a minute, because I know what his answer is going to be, and I don't think it's smart either. "Pre-nup."

"Abso-fucking-lutely not. I will not start our marriage with plans in place for when it ends. Till death do us part Anastasia. No pre-nup." He's furious, as I knew he would be, and I'm thankful that it was me that brought it up and not someone else. It's also fortuitous that he's in a hospital bed and can't pace or throw things.

"You need to think about GEH and all the people who work for you. I have my own rather large bank accounts around the globe, and while I am not with you for the money, nor do I think that you would take mine, people are going to expect there to be a pre-nup." Frankly, I just don't want people to look at me and say I'm a gold digger. I don't want anything other than Christian.

"No. It's never been about the money and if I do something to screw up and make you leave me, then you might as well take it all because I will have nothing without you." Oh Christian.

"You know, I could be the one to do something to screw up. Look at the beginning of the week. We're horrible communicators when we're in conflict, and honestly, I think that the only thing you could do to make me walk away is be unfaithful." It's the truth. That is one issue I don't think I'd ever be able to overcome.

"I've always been monogamous Ana. I don't want anyone else. You'll never have to worry about it. Do you really promise to always stick around, even if I do go fifty shades and try to avoid you like I did this week?" Now I smile.

"You ever try to pull that shit again, and I'm going to wake you in the middle of the night while I'm locking your balls in a vice. You'll only get released once we've worked our problems out. Capeesh?" When Christian woke me Wednesday morning I was pleasantly surprised that he was ready to talk that night, frankly if he hadn't been, I'd have locked him in his office and restrained him if necessary to get him to talk to me.

"Got it. So, no pre-nup?" I sigh, I should have seen that one.

"What about if we have children, we need to secure their future for them."

"That's what a will is for Ana. We need to talk about kids as well. I want them sooner than later." I stare at him and wonder where the cold business man everyone told me he was is.

"I want to wait till after the new year before we try. I'd like to have some time just the two of us first. I'd like to enjoy being a newlywed without suffering morning sickness from the onset, besides, I'd need to go see the doctor before we could start trying anyway." I wonder how soon after getting an iud out before you can get pregnant. I don't remember that from the pamphlet when the agency doctor inserted it.

"What do you mean you need to see the doctor first. Just throw the damn pills away. It takes nine months before that baby arrives. If you stop now, you'll likely not get pregnant till after the wedding anyway. Why do we need to wait?" Shit, I should have told him about this sooner. Dad was right.

Sighing, I put my notepad in my bag and hold his hand with both of mine, staring at our interlocked fingers before raising my head to his. Christian's eyes narrow when he takes in my posture. Defeated is the only way I can describe myself at the moment. There are just some things you never want to tell your partner and the realities of the work I'd been doing is one of them.

"When I returned after Cairo, a doctor at the agency recommended I look into birth control options. She told me I might not be so lucky the next time if I was captured again. That area doesn't think much of women. There only good for three things, tending home, raising children, and satisfying sexual urges. Most men don't give their wife the option to say no. I was lucky I was with the Mossad agent the whole time. If I'd been left alone with my captors, I'd likely have been raped. The pill is no good if you miss one day. The shot wears off after twelve weeks, so it was still an iffy option if I was captured for any length of time. An iud though, it's good for five years. One appointment and I don't have to worry about it failing. After five years I go to the doctor and have it removed or replaced. I know I told you I was on the pill, but it's because I didn't want to explain why I was using a form of birth control as a virgin that is usually reserved for women that are already mothers." I hang my head, because I am ashamed of myself for lying to him. I could have just said I was on birth control, but I told him I was on the pill specifically and for reasons not related to birth control, when the only reason I had the iud was to prevent carrying a would-be rapist's baby.

"So, you make an appointment with the doctor for after the wedding. We'll ask our questions and do what we need to from there. I had a sub once that had an iud. I don't remember if it takes a while for it'd effects to wear off after removal or not. So, we'll wait till after the wedding and go from there. It's okay, Snow White. I don't like that you lied to me, but I understand why you did. You had no way of knowing where we were headed at that point. I wish you had brought it up in the last two months we've been together, but I get why you didn't. How long do you think that you're going to let Finn think he can still activate you?" Christian is calmer than I ever expected him to be. Squeezing my hand, he smiles softly and reassuringly at me.

"I'm going to tell him after we return from Aspen that the agency can take a hike. I can't do it anymore. He wanted to send me to London on a mission any operative could do, but he wanted to use my new-found fame. He wanted me to pretend I was willing to step out on you. I can't put myself and my family at risk anymore. It's better to bow out now. I'm woman enough to admit, that if your father hadn't outted me, I'd likely not leave at all, even after the wedding. I'd probably be more selective about my assignments, but I'm sure I wouldn't leave the agency all together. But we are high profile. The world knows I am, or rather I was, CIA. Continuing to work with the agency will only increase the risk of my code name being discovered and doing so would put everyone from our parents to Brooklynne in danger." I've been headed for this road a long time over the last month. It's my new reality, and I know I'm going to struggle to accept it.

"Thank you." Christian lifts my hand to place a kiss to my knuckles when there's a knock on the door.

Taylor enters without waiting for a response, Sawyer behind him with a wheelchair. "Sir, we've got a ten-minute window to sneak you out the maintenance bay doors. We have to leave now. I've called the detectives and they'll be meeting you at Escala before your family arrives."

Soon Sawyer is grabbing our bags and Taylor is helping Christian into the wheelchair. I follow behind the men, Taylor pushing Christian, Sawyer in front, and Reynolds is behind us. We squeeze into an elevator near the back stairwell in the hallway and a quick ride later, I see a laundry truck outside the doors. We exited straight to the outside delivery bays. Reynolds moves toward a silver Lincoln Navigator with heavily tinted windows and opens the back door. He and Taylor both assist Christian with getting in, and as Sawyer places the bags in the back of the SUV, I move around to the opposite side of the vehicle. Sawyer jumps in front of me and opens the door. "You'll have to sit in the middle Ana. Reynolds is driving, Taylor's in front and I'm in the back with the two of you." I listen to what he says and then we're on our way. I'm sitting next to Christian's injured shoulder and I want nothing more to lay my head on his shoulder.

Without thinking, I reach over his lap and take his hand in mine, resting our hands on his thigh. Like I said before, I don't want him out of my sight, and touching him is one of the few things reassuring me of his safety. Reassuring me that he is in fact alive. My knight.


End file.
